


Under Pressure

by theauthor2010



Category: Glee, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-21
Updated: 2012-11-25
Packaged: 2017-11-10 10:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/465367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Glee/Teen Wolf] After his suicide attempt, Dave moves to Beacon Hills to live out his senior year with his cousin Stiles. He'll have to try and adjust to the new life, as well as take notice of certain interactions between his cousin and a mystery man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Warnings: mention of attempted suicide

Dave was sitting on his bed, thinking, when he heard a knock. He knew it was his father and felt a twinge of guilt for closing the door when the man had explicitly asked him not to. "Come in Dad," he mumbled, "I'm sorry I forgot about the door thing." He looked up as his father walked into the bedroom.

Dave had a feeling he was going to feel guilty every time he laid eyes on his father for a very long time. The man looked worn down and physically drained. He had found his son unconscious after an attempted hanging. How on earth had he been so stupid? How had he not realized what kind of pain that he was going to put his father through? He knew his mind wasn't right then but it wasn't fair. "It's no problem Dave. How are you, buddy?"

Dave watched his father sit awkwardly on the bed and then moved back a little bit. He could tell his father had something to tell him. "I'm fine Dad," he mumbled. "I was just enjoying the quiet. You look like...something's up though." 

His father shifted a little bit, nodding and looking him in the eye. Dave didn't flinch away from his gaze. "Do you remember your cousin and uncle on the West Coast?"

Dave nodded. He vaguely remembered them. "That guy's a sheriff," he mumbled. "Your sister who died...her husband..." 

"Well, we've been thinking about where you can attend high school for the rest of your senior year, Dave," the man said seriously. Dave saw where he was going with anticipation and dread. "His son goes to this school, Beacon Hills High and it's...it's a good school. It's far away and you can have some distance from all of this. It's pretty quiet and stuff...It'd give you distance and change of pace. That's good, right?"

Dave thought about what his father was saying for a moment. The idea of attending a new high school scared the shit out of him, especially one that was all the way in California, but at the same time there was something to be said about starting fresh and finishing it off. There were a lot of good colleges on the West Coast that he could get accepted to. It was a new beginning and well, it'd get him away from a lot of things that he was scared of. It was a good idea, as much as it made him sick.

"I'm...really scared about it, but I do want to get away," he told his dad, smiling a little when he saw the relief pass over his father's face. The man looked aside and Dave knew that it was because of the drama with his mother. She still had not accepted that he was gay and it was causing a lot of relationship strain for his parents. "It'd be good, yes," Dave mumbled, trying to encourage his father into not feeling bad. "I'm definitely in favor of the idea, Dad. It'd be a good new beginning for me." 

It didn't take that long for plans to get finalized in Dave's move to Beacon Hills. It was only a few days later that he found himself typing up an email to Kurt. He wanted to explain to the boy he was in love with for so long what he was doing, even though Kurt probably couldn't care less. It had been Kurt's words that saved him from the worst of his despair after all, and he deserved to know that Dave took them to heart and was going to try. He was going to try his best to become a better man and live for the future. 

Dear Kurt,

I know this probably isn't even of any interest to you at all, but I'm moving. I'm moving to the West Coast, actually. My cousin and uncle live in this little town Beacon Hills. It's supposed to be nice and a good place where I can finish my senior year and find myself. Sounds cool, right? 

Anyway, I'm really going to miss you. I also wanted to thank you for all you've done for me. It was your words that got me thinking about the future in hopeful terms. I hope maybe we can talk again sometime when we're both in college or successful or whatever... Send me tickets to your first Broadway show? I'll say that I knew him first.

Anyway, my contact info is attached. Bye. 

Dave.

-

"Hey Stiles, come over here for a sec." The teenager walked over to his father, to see the man sitting at the kitchen table over a pile of paperwork.

"Yeah Dad?" he asked. 

"Do you remember your mother's brother Paul and his kid Dave?"

Stiles thought for a minute and yeah, he remembered them, but vaguely. He only saw them a few times. The last time he'd really talked to either was around the time of his mom's death, which was a traumatizing time in which he wasn't making new memories by far. "Yeah I remember 'em, Dad. What are you getting at?" His father was obviously considering something pretty serious by the way he was staring off.

His father gestured for him to sit down; something that he was well aware meant sit down immediately. "David went through a very hard time this year," he said. "I was talking to Paul and we think that he could benefit from finishing his senior year at Beacon Hills High School. I know we've had our share of...problems around here, but I think that Paul is right." 

"Once again Dad, what are you getting at?" 

"David's gay, Stiles," his father said, much more bluntly. "He was bullied pretty badly for being gay and wound up attempting suicide. He's doing a lot better, but Paul thinks that he'll benefit from some large scale distance from Ohio." 

Stiles was honestly a tad taken aback by that. He knew Ohio was a different place but he couldn't imagine even the worse giving gay dudes a hard time. C'mon, Danny was out and everything and nobody gave him any trouble. Yes, Jackson contributed to his protected status, but still…being gay wasn't anything bad or whatever.

While he sat quietly, not saying anything, his father continued. "Promise you'll keep after him and make sure he's comfortable here?" he asked seriously.

That made him snap out of it. "Of course I will dad," he mumbled. 

"Thanks. You're a good kid Stiles." 

Well, that was nice to hear once in awhile. As his dad walked away, he thought about the suicide attempt thing. He was pretty thankful that he lived where he did. He wasn't gay or anything, well...yeah he wasn't gay or anything, but everyone should feel free to be as gay as they wanted to be.

Beacon Hills was a good place to live. Well, except for the killings and the werewolves and the hunters...

Yeah, he wasn't sure his cousin was any better off, but at least he was safe to be who he was.


	2. Chapter 2

It was obvious upon his immediate arrival that Beacon Hills was nothing like Lima, Ohio. That in itself was a good thing, of course, but Dave had no idea what to expect. He glanced around for a few minutes and then followed the directions he had to his uncle's house. It was honestly weird that he was going to be living with this guy, when he barely knew him. The last time he saw him was when his aunt died and honestly, Dave didn't remember much of that. He didn't know her well enough.

His uncle's house was pretty nice, typical. When he knocked on the door he was immediately greeted by his uncle. He seemed like a nice man. "David," the sheriff said, giving him a quick hug. "I haven't seen you since you were a tiny little thing. Well, not a tiny thing but you know what I mean." 

"Yeah..." 

"Stiles!"

His cousin entered the room and waved awkwardly. Dave looked at the boy and nodded. The last time he'd seen him he'd been a lot scrawnier. "Uh, hey," he mumbled, looking awkwardly from his cousin to his uncle. He knew they knew about the suicide attempt and it made him feel a little insecure. 

"Hey." 

"Well I'll leave you two alone to reintroduce yourselves."

When they were left alone, the boy looked at him and shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. "Dude, I'm really sorry about how things went don back at home," he said softly. 

Dave tried not to act horrified, just nodding. "Yeah, I guess they want me to have a new beginning here. I just started to figure - why not?" 

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled. "Just so you know, nobody's gonna give you crap for being gay here. I mean, I only know like one gay guy, but he's pretty awesome. His name is Danny. I can introduce you guys. Maybe he'll be your type or something because he just had a breakup and that's...totally inappropriate sorry." 

"No problem," Dave murmured.

Finding the conversation with his cousin to be lacking, as they went up to Stiles' room, Dave tried his best to find some common ground between them. "Do you play any sports?" he asked   
uncomfortably. "I mean - hockey, football, anything?" There had to be something that both teenage boys did.

"Those pretty much don't exist 'round here," Stiles explained plopping down on the bed in the center of the room. "It's unusual but lacrosse is what's popular here. I play...sort of..."   
"Um, I'm going to sound stupid," Dave forewarned, "but what's lacrosse? I mean I've heard of it but I don't even...know..." He wracked his mind for even an image of the sport. He found absolutely nothing in the back of his mind. Why did it sound like something he'd heard of before when he didn't even know what it was. 

His cousin seemed thoroughly amused by his lack of lacrosse knowledge. "Really?" he asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Are you serious? You don't even know what it is?" 

Dave shrugged his shoulders. "I just always played football and hockey. Nothing else. Ohio is...Ohio. Not very cultured, I know."

"It's really pretty much the same thing as hockey," Stiles mumbled. "If you know how to play hockey, you know how to play lacrosse. There are just ... um, nets and everything. Maybe you can give it a shot some time. You'd probably be luckier than I've been." 

"Benched a lot?" Dave asked, hoping the principles were at least the same there. 

"Oh yeah." 

"I get that," Dave mumbled, remembering his time with the hockey team. "So anyway, what about your friends? What kind of people do you hang around?" He couldn't help be a little bit uncomfortable and afraid, suspicious of people's intentions.

"Oh um they're all pretty cool." He was pretty sure that his cousin was fidgeting around nervously, but he wasn't sure why. "I'll introduce you to my bro Scott when you start school. He's got this thing with Allison, who is, something else...but it's a long and complicated story. They're pretty awesome though. Uh, did you leave any friends behind?" 

Dave shifted a little, awkward himself. "Eh, lost most of em," he said honestly. "There is this one guy Kurt that I'll miss though. He saved my life when, well, I'm sure your dad told you that whole horror story."

His cousin nodded. "Hey bro, uh Dave, stick with me and you'll be alright," he mumbled. "Like I said, Danny's gay and nobody would give him crap about that without winding up on the wrong side of the lacrosse team. It's a different world and I'm sure that you'll be okay. We're family, so we'll stick together and all of that stuff. Promise." 

"True."   
Dave felt hopeful for his new school, his new sense of self and everything that transferring would come along with. His cousin was a pretty cool guy and well, things just seemed like they'd turn out.

Dave had his first day at Beacon Hills high school three days later. Before school, Stiles introduced him to his friend Scott. The teenager nodded appreciatively when Stiles told him about how his cousin had transferred to Beacon Hills and introduced himself politely enough. "He's gay," Stiles said, with absolutely no hesitance whatsoever. Dave winced, but to his surprise the lanky teen just nodded. 

"Cool, introduce him to Danny," he mumbled, as he headed off to class at the ring of the bell. What was this Danny guy, the symbol of all things gay in the city? Dave rolled his eyes a little. At least this Scott dude hadn't batted an eye at the idea of Dave being gay. It didn't seem like anyone was really looking to cause trouble over his sexuality and Dave refused to be closeted at his new school. After all he had been through he deserved to be as out and proud as Kurt had been back in Ohio.

School honestly was typical. It was a lot calmer than McKinley. Dave went through his classes, took in the information he had to and just got through the first day trying to get his feet in the door.

It was pretty easy and by the time he was back at his cousin's house, leaning back against the bed in Stiles' room, things were generally going well. It was a lot more relaxed and his dad was right. He could get a lot done in Beacon Hills that he couldn't get done with himself in Ohio. Things were calm. Well, they were calm, at least, until he and Stiles were in his room talking and a man climbed in the window.


	3. Chapter 3

The man was older than they were, with dark hair, a deep expression and a leather jacket. He stared at Dave for a long moment before glaring at Stiles and asking with a near growl, "Who's he?" Dave didn't know who the man was but he definitely gave off a forward, dangerous vibe and he made Stiles nervous. 

Stiles got up and put himself between Dave and the intruder. "Derek, we don't just burst in through people's windows!" he said, wringing his hands in annoyance and then standing up to the other man. "I mean, seriously, I deserve some form of privacy, don't I?" 

"I need to talk to you, alone," this Derek said giving Dave a look. 

"Be polite, Derek," Stiles said, rolling his eyes. "This is my cousin Dave. He's living here in Beacon Hills now. He's not accustomed to creepers that come into windows and make demands." 

Derek looked at Dave and then there was a hint of apology in his expression. He did not, however, apologize for his intrusion. "Do you think that your cousin would mind letting us talk alone for a second?" he asked. Stiles looked at Dave. Dave tried wordlessly asking his cousin if it was safe to leave them alone. Stiles seemed to understand what he meant and gave him a small, sharp nod. Dave then left the room, but he kept watching them from the bathroom, where he ducked off to.

He watched the exchange without sound, not hearing a thing that either man was saying. The stances were oh-so familiar though. Stiles looked nervous but brave and Derek looked like he wanted to eat him up, literally. Dave wasn't the most perceptive person in the universe, but he was pretty sure that Derek wanted his cousin, badly. He leaned down against Stiles as he talked, their bodies pressed flush together. His eyes kept moving to his cousin's lips as the boy talked and he even pressed a hand to the center of Stiles' chest. It was a gesture Dave couldn't determine. Was it threatening or full of desire or both? After all, Dave had wanted Kurt so much that it had turned into a ball of frustration, pain and desire. What if the same was to be said about Stiles and this Derek guy? 

Derek pulled away from Stiles with a yank and Dave was absolutely sure that was what was going through the guy's head. He found Stiles obnoxious, irritating and it all came from the fact that he wanted him so badly. He could practically hear the desperation in this Derek character and it was like hearing his own thoughts when he was caught in the mess that his desire for Kurt caused. Dave frowned. What had he done? Had he walked into some gay Twilight Zone? He was just lost…

Derek left as fast as he came. He went out the window again, which made Dave wonder how the hell he was getting down. He walked back into the bedroom and looked at Stiles. The other teenager looked positively guilty. "Who was that?" he asked. 

"That was…Derek," the other boy said. "Don't tell my dad about him, okay? He's a friend, but he's not exactly the kind of friend that you want your dad to know climbs up in your windows and stuff…" 

"How do you know him?" Dave asked. He knew that he was being nosy, but if something similar to what happened to Kurt was about to happen to his cousin, then he had the duty to warn Stiles, didn't he? He didn't want anyone to have to go through the pain of having possibly unwanted attentions pushed on them because the desire built too high. "I mean, I know that's probably none of my business…"

"I know him through my friend Scott you met earlier today," Stiles said quickly, cutting him off. "He's a really nice guy, Derek, despite his creeper tendencies."

Dave frowned a little, unable to hide his suspicions. "He was looking at you like he wanted to eat you alive," he mumbled.

"What?" Stiles asked. "What the heck, Dave? What do you mean by that? That's funny but weird to say…" 

Dave debated for a moment over whether or not he should tell Stiles what was on his mind. He decided to just go with it, a moment later. "He seems like he wants you," Dave said softly. "It just reminds me of this thing I had for this guy, when I was…still in the closet. I really wanted him and the…desire to be out and to be someone as amazing as him kind of drove me over the edge. I bullied him, I singled him out and I kind of sucked. I swear that I saw those same emotions in that Derek guy. Am I off base?"

Stiles laughed at that, but made it clear he wasn't laughing at Dave, but the idea, by waving his hands in the air. "Derek likes me?" he asked, grinning at the suggestion. "Somehow I doubt that Dave." 

"Not…likes you…but…like has this desire for you. Sometimes when you want something so much it screws with you. It left me crazed half the time, always thinking about Kurt and how much I wanted to be with him, be like him. I finally snapped when he confronted me about bullying him and well, I did something that I'll always regret. I don't want this guy to do that to you, okay?"

"Aw you do love me, cousin," Stiles said, trying to make light of the situation to make them less uncomfortable. "What did you do? Did you hurt him or something?"

"I kissed him," Dave said. It was funny. He had never shared what he did to Kurt with anyone, save for a therapist after the suicide attempt. "I forced a kiss on him. I'll feel guilty about that forever and I don't want this creeper coming in your window to do that to you. Call it family loyalty or something like that."

Stiles smiled. "Well…um I can assure you Derek won't do that to me, but thanks," he said. "Also…don't still feel guilty about it." 

"I don't."

"You do, I can tell."

After that awkward conversation, Stiles and Dave parted ways. Dave's words, however, kept playing in Stiles' head. Did Derek really have a desire for Stiles that left him half-crazed? Stiles doubted that there was anything right about Dave's little theory but at the same time he couldn't help wonder. He wasn't exactly gay, like Dave was, but there were moments when he was very, very attracted to Derek. There were also these moments when something like sexual tension seemed to grow between them. There were these moments when Derek stared at him like he wanted to kill him – only not…

Stiles shook it off. There was no way that a werewolf was harboring secret desires for him, not at all. He dismissed the thought then went to call Scott, hoping to find out what all of the drama was about today. He hoped no supernatural creatures decided to harm the town while his cousin was just settling in, but he knew his luck wasn't that good.


	4. Chapter 4

In between school and family, Stiles was still burdened with the supernatural. He was, although of no choice of his own, a part of the group that was trying to stop the crazy lizard creature and its master from killing people. "We're doing what we can Derek," Stiles assured the annoyed Alpha werewolf, who believed that Scott was withholding some kind of information from him or something.

"People are dying, Stiles," Derek said. "I'm trying to get to the bottom of this and take care of Jackson before someone else dies." 

"Trust me Derek, I get it," Stiles snapped back. "You're guilty because the guy's your werewolf progeny and you want to take care of business. Scott and I are doing what we can." Despite the fact that he honestly thought Dave's theory about Derek was ridiculous, Derek was all up in his grill. There was a lusty nature to the whole thing, especially the way that Derek was staring at him, lips a mere inch apart. 

Derek leaned down and closed in the gap between the two of them. "What's your problem Derek?" Stiles asked, backing off a little bit because there was definitely something creepily sexual about this tension between the two of them. Maybe Dave was right about things. Oh God, could Dave have really been right about things? 

"My problem is you, Scott and your inability to get priorities straightened out," Derek said, leaning forward with a slightly menacing stare. He clutched a fist in Stiles' shirt and held him back a little. 

"Gonna hit me Derek?" Stiles asked, even though he kenw he was threatening a giant werewolf and that was a bad idea

"You got guts Stiles, but you're annoying. Get out of my face." The intensity of his voice made Stiles jump, but with the firm grip on his shirt he didn't get very far. He didn't want to push Derek, but at the same time he wanted to know what the hell was going on and why the werewolf always singled him out when he was very much human. 

"Make me." 

There was a long, tense moment between them where Stiles was sure Derek was going to kiss him. Or maybe he was going to kill him. Stiles really couldn't tell the difference between the two. He was contemplating whether Derek was going to kiss or kill him when Derek's face twitched. He sensed another presence in the room. Oh crap. Dave. Stiles yanked back from Derek's suddenly slackened grip, just as the human boy lunged at Derek. "Get off of him you creep!'

It took a split second to happen, given Derek's werewolf nature. He turned around and threw Dave off of him, projecting the rather large teenage boy into a wall. He was knocked out cold in half of an instant, slumping down into the corner. Derek looked at Stiles, shocked, because obviously he had not intended to do that. "What was that all about?" he asked, eyes wide. 

Stiles absolutely freaked, staring at Derek. "Oh my god," he said desperately. "You knocked my cousin unconscious. You knocked out my cousin!" He went down to the floor by Dave's side and shook him, trying to wake up the other boy but he would not budge. He was breathing, thank god, shallow breaths escaping him.

"Why'd he go after me?" Derek asked. "I was focusing on you and all of a sudden I caught wind of a human trying to attack me..." 

"He thinks that you have some hidden desire for me and are overcome by lust or something," Stiles said, shaking his head at Derek as he tried to revive Dave. He rubbed his cousin's shoulder, trying to get him to come to. "It reminds him of some boy he was drawn to back home. He was afraid you were going to like kiss molest me or something." 

After awhile, Derek helped Stiles get Dave up onto the bed. They both stared at the unconscious teenager, wondering if they should get a doctor.

"Were you going to kiss molest me?" Stiles asked Derek, still trying to get Dave to come to, but his cousin was definitely out cold. 

"I was not," Derek said sharply. 

"You're lying," Stiles said. He was unsure of whether or not this was true but he was in a mood. Derek had sort of just knocked his cousin unconscious. "Do you think that Dave's alright? You're the one with the crazy wolf senses." 

Derek tensed a little as he watched Dave. "He seems to be alright but he needs someone to monitor him for a concussion," he said. "You have to come with me. Scott just sent me a text and...is there anyone who can watch your cousin?" Stiles laughed a little bit at Derek's attempt to act concerned.

He called the first normal person on his phone. Danny. Danny was confused as hell, but agreed to come over. "We're waiting until Danny shows up," he told Derek. "So sit down."

When Danny arrived, the lacrosse player looked confused. "So, you need me to watch after your cousin because he fell…" 

"Yeah," Stiles said sheepishly. He brought Danny into the bedroom and showed him the unconscious Dave lying on his bed. He told Derek to leave because he was not going to explain his other cousin to Danny, not this time. "He fell and hit his head. We don't think he needs a doctor but I really need someone to keep an eye on him. I promise we'll pay you and everything…"

"Are you sure he doesn't need a doctor?" Danny asked.

Stiles nodded, hoping he could trust Derek's instinct.

"Alright, but you really, really owe me." 

When Dave woke up he was face to face with a handsome dark skinned boy with a gorgeous smile. The boy smiled awkwardly, bit his bottom lip and waved. He looked like he had no idea what he was doing there. Dave had no idea what he was doing there either. He sat up and grunted as pain hit him, hard. "Uh hey," the boy said softly. "I'm Danny. Stiles told me to check in on you."

Dave ran a hand over his head, feeling the bump there. He'd hit his head. Wait, hadn't that creepy Derek guy shoved him? He had been coming onto Stiles like he was going to…do something. Dave had been convinced that the scary looking guy was going to force a kiss, or worse, on his cousin. "What happened?" he asked dully, sounding stupid. He decided that playing dumb was his best bet. 

"Stiles said you hit your head," Danny said, shrugging. "You okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm okay..." he mumbled. That was when he realized who he was talking to. "Oh you're Danny. Everyone here keeps telling me about you like you're the guru of gay or something." He sat up and stretched, feeling so very awkward. It was very weird. "Are you the only gay person in this whole city?" 

"Oh yeah, I heard another member of Club Gay joined us at Beacon Hills," Danny said with a charming smile that made Dave sit up straight and try to act more comfortable and at ease. "I'm glad you're here. I'm no longer the lone gay guy at school. That's pretty cool...I do think it's pretty awesome they've been treating me like the Ambassador of Gayville though." 

Dave smiled, sitting up straight. Whatever happened to his head definitely hurt. "So, um, nobody gives you issues for being gay at school?" he asked, unable to help himself. He was sure that wasn't what Danny wanted to talk about and the situation was already weird but it just poured out. He wanted to know that being as out as he was that he was safe. It was a natural worry. 

Danny shook his head. "I've heard a few unkind comments but people are pretty good to me," he said. "Of course, when I came out Jackson swore that he'd make life a living hell for anyone who messed with me. He's capable of that with his power and family..."

"Nice," Dave mumbled. "Things weren't so okay back in Ohio."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Danny said sincerely. "I know that some places suck for gay guys. I'll show you an awesome gay club up here if you can manage a fake ID. If not I can help you swing one. It's an awesome place even if my ex-boyfriend frequents it." Danny rolled his eyes. 

"Bad breakup?" Dave asked, trying to be sympathetic. 

"Not pretty," Danny admitted. "Not pretty on either side. It's all good though. So, your Stiles' cousin huh? Is it as interesting of a family to be a part of as it seems?"

"Uh considering I don't know exactly how I hit my head, yeah." He shook his head from side to side, trying to shake some of the dizziness. "I'm also a little concerned that my cousin just left me with some random guy, no offense." He smiled. 

"None taken."


	5. Chapter 5

"I guess my life has always been a little weird," Dave admitted with a laugh. "If my family members are weird then I guess I fit right in."

"Beacon Hills has had its share of weirdness," Danny admitted, shaking his head appreciatively. "My best friend, for example, has become really, really distant so I think I haven't managed to unload in awhile. I'm sorry…" 

"No, don't be sorry," Dave said quickly.

"I shouldn't be unloading on a stranger," Danny said with a bright eyed smile.

"I basically did the same thing," Dave said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "It's totally okay." 

There was an awkward moment when Dave wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say. He looked at Danny and then Danny looked back at him. He said the first thing that came to his mind. "Have you ever heard of a guy named Derek?" he asked, preoccupied by the guy who was apparently into his cousin. At least it was something to talk about with the teen who had suddenly become his caretaker. 

"No-" Danny started, but immediately paused. "Well there is Derek Hale." 

"Who's that?" Dave asked sitting up.

"Well there's this guy Derek Hale, who used to live around here," Danny said. "His family was killed in a pretty vicious fire years back. The arsonist was just revealed. Derek Hale himself was actually accused of killing his sister, his like, only surviving relative." 

"Did he do it?" Dave asked alarmed.

"No, it ended up being the same person who killed the rest of the family," Danny said. "It was all over the local news and pretty grim. I've never met the guy face to face before though. Why do you ask? That's the only Derek I can think of, at least in Beacon Hills…" Danny frowned like he was trying to remember. 

"Well Stiles is tangled up with a Derek," Dave said, wondering if the mysterious Derek Hale was the weirdo who was about to lock lips with Stiles. 

"Interesting," Danny said. 

Dave shrugged his shoulders and tried to get his worries off of his mind. He didn't want Danny to think he was weird. It wasn't like he was into him or anything, but it wouldn't hurt to know a very attractive gay guy. "Hey, this town may be weird, but at least it's not Ohio," he said with a faint laugh. 

That comment made Danny laugh. "Well I gotta admit that Ohio doesn't sound like the most appealing place out there." Dave definitely had to agree with that assessment, even though Danny didn't half of an idea how bad Ohio sucked. 

It took him a few moments to think of something he could talk about with Danny. "So, Stiles told me a little bit about lacrosse," he said. "Do you play?" It was really interesting to him that he now lived in a town that was not obsessed with football. 

Danny nodded. "I'm the goalie," he said.

"That's awesome," Dave mumbled. "I was on the football and hockey teams at school. I don't think we even had a lacrosse team. I don't know if I could play it if I tried. I want to join some kind of sport though because I need it for college…" With his career path focusing on sports, he wanted to show that he started playing something new after his middle-of-the-year transfer. 

"If you played hockey then you'll be good at lacrosse," Danny said. "I could teach you maybe? I have extra equipment and the field is usually open in the evenings and on weekends. It wouldn't take that long to run through a couple of the basics." 

"That'd be really cool." 

Danny smiled and Dave had to admit that his smile was addicting. "Being a lacrosse player is a pretty good way to get recognized here," he said. "If you get on the team and stand out during a game or two, you could probably land any gay guy in a ten mile radius. If that's what you're looking for…" 

Dave laughed. "That sounds nice," he said, even though he was scared to death of being out of the closet. He didn't want to show a cute gay guy that he was scared of having a boyfriend, but he kind of was. It wasn't an easy thought. 

"You haven't been out long," Danny said after a long, deep look at him. Dave had to laugh because he hadn't known it was that obvious. "It's okay. I had a really hard time openly dating guys after I came out of the closet. It was just a joke I made. There are actually more gay guys in Beacon Hills than you can tell right off the bat. It'll all turn out alright, that is, if you stick with me." 

Dave decided that sticking with Danny was definitely a good idea. He needed something strong and stable and … normal. 

Meanwhile, Stiles was pretty sure that he was never going to have normal in his life again. Especially now that Derek was suggesting that it was Lydia they were hunting. "We're not going to let Derek kill Lydia, right?" he asked, looking to Scott. The other teenager was looking at Stiles with a sympathetic expression. He seemed to agree that Derek had gone off the deep end, but at the same time he was not as certain as Stiles that Lydia Martin was not the creature they were hunting.

"If anyone can convince him not to do anything crazy it's you," Scott murmured, tilting his head to the side as he looked at Stiles. 

"Why me?" 

"I don't really know," Scott said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "You definitely have some kind of control over Derek. I smell certain things coming off of Derek whenever he's near you. I don't know. I don't exactly understand the wolfiness behind all of this, but it's strong. There are a lot of things that the wolf in me understands that I don't exactly get." 

"What do you think that it smells like?" Stiles asked cautiously, not sure that he wanted the answer. Still, he thought back to Dave's words and he had to urge Scott to let him in on what was going on. "Give into your wolfishness and try to give me a hint? I've been trying to figure out a thing or two about Derek lately." 

"It smells a lot like desire," Scott said, speaking hesitantly, as if he really didn't want to be the ones to say the words. "I smell a lot of want, lust and maybe even need coming off of him. There's something else there too, something that doesn't come from his wolf. I don't really understand it." 

Stiles realized in that moment that he really needed to talk to Derek. He and Derek needed to talk, but he figured that some advice from his own cousin might be more important.


	6. Chapter 6

Dave didn't see Stiles again until school the next day. His cousin ran up to him with an obvious look of concern in his eyes. "Dave," he said, "dude, I am so sorry about yesterday. Are you feeling okay?" His eyes got really big. Dave was eternally amused by the expressive look on his cousin's face. 

"I'm fine," Dave said, hesitant because he was still unsure about what had occurred the night before. "I mean, my head hurts, but I'll live. Danny stayed with me for like, hours, yesterday." 

"Thank God for Danny…" Stiles whispered. 

"I don't think I should even ask what happened yesterday," Dave said. He wanted to know but was pretty sure that Stiles was not going to give him a straight answer. 

"That's probably a good idea," Stiles admitted sheepishly, "but can I ask you a question? What did you mean when you said that stuff about Derek, you know, wanting me…liking me and stuff…" 

"I just know what I felt for Kurt, a long time ago," Dave said softly, feeling a little bit nervous about his cousin's confrontation. "Maybe I'm not reading him right, but I just get a lot of emotion from this Derek guy, when it comes to you. He seems very passionate about it. I just wanted to prevent you from getting hurt like Kurt got hurt, by me, that's all." He frowned. 

"It's no big deal, man," Stiles assured, hand on his shoulder. "I'm just confused." 

"Well what do you feel for him?" Dave asked, curiously. 

"I'm so confused by that," Stiles admitted immediately. "Derek's just…he's got a lot going on with him, Dave. He's got a heavy past and honestly, a present that's just as heavy." He shook his head. 

Dave nodded, thinking about what Danny told him. "Well, is 'listen to your heart' a cheesy piece of advice?" he asked playfully.

"It so is," Stiles admitted, "but we're related. I didn't expect less. What are your plans after school today?" 

At that, Dave smiled. "I'm meeting Danny, actually," he said. "He's gonna give me a rundown on some lacrosse stuff and we're just going to hang." He couldn't help his smile. Danny was fun and attractive and well, he was enjoying himself immensely. It was definitely looking like moving to Beacon Hills had been a good move. He was out, close to family he'd hardly known before, and meeting attractive lacrosse players who seemed to like him in at least a friendly manner. Life was good. 

"Oh awesome," Stiles said. "You gotta teach me how to have game like that. You've been in town less than a week and already got a date." 

"It's not a date," Dave said sheepishly, shaking his head. 

"Well, whatever it is, you and Danny would make a cute couple," Stiles said, giving Dave playful puppydog eyes. Dave rolled his eyes back and shoved him lightly, playfully. He enjoyed having a cousin his own age to banter back and forth with. It was kind of fun.  
After school, Danny gave Dave a rundown of all of the basic lacrosse information. They practiced a little bit and Danny even said that Dave had a natural talent. It was kind of good to hear, even if Danny was just being nice about it. Dave couldn't entirely be sure about that. After they were done playing, they hung out by the bleachers. Danny was lively and talkative, until someone walked by. 

"Jackson!" Danny called, but the boy just kept on walking past them. Danny looked incredibly disheartened by that particular rejection, leaning back on the bleacher and shaking his head, rolling his eyes. 

"What was that all about?" Dave asked curiously. 

"That was my best friend Jackson," Danny said, shaking his head again. "He's always a little hard to deal with, but lately he's been practically impossible. He's preoccupied with something and he won't tell me what. He keeps a lot of secrets, but I'm trying my best to stay the loyal friend, you know?" 

"I'm sorry," Dave said. He didn't really understand but he could sense that Danny was unhappy and well, he wanted to make the other teenager happy. 

"It's no big deal," Danny said, shrugging his shoulders. He smiled and changed the subject as quickly as he possibly could. "Hey Dave, do you happen to have a good fake ID? I mean, you probably don't, but…" 

"I do, actually," Dave said. 

Danny broke into an even bigger smile at that. "Awesome!" he said. "Do you want to go to a local gay club with me this weekend?" 

Dave was really flattered and surprised by the offer. He wasn't sure if it meant that Danny was interested in him, or just wanted to ask him to a local gay hangout because he knew he was another gay young man who needed to get out. It didn't really matter though. The idea totally excited him. "I'd like that," he said with a slight nod.

Dave couldn't help think to himself that he loved his life. Moving to California had been the best thing he'd ever done. There were just so many opportunities for him there that would never exist in Ohio.


	7. Chapter 7

Dave was becoming more and more nervous as the seconds passed by. He stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, trying to decide if his clothes were acceptable for the club. He wasn't sure. He was from Lima. Scandals was the closest thing that there was in that town and he was scared to death. He wanted to talk to Stiles, but his cousin was mysteriously nowhere to be found. 

His father, however, was home for a moment. The sheriff peeked into his room, a curious expression on his face. "Got a date, David?" he asked with a smile on his face. Dave knew that the man was reporting back to his father. 

"Yes, sir," he said. "I met this guy, Danny…" 

"Oh Danny's on the lacrosse team, right?" the man asked. "Danny's a nice boy. Have fun Dave. Be safe and come home before curfew. I'll be on duty tonight, but Stiles will be home." 

"I will, thanks," Dave said. 

Danny came to pick him up shortly after. He came to the door and got Dave personally. He was dressed very casually in a plain shirt, but he looked fantastic. "You look amazing," Danny said to Dave. They walked out to the car together and once they got inside, Danny looked a little bit embarrassed. "I have to admit something to you Dave. I just found out that my ex is going to be at the club, but I promise you that I didn't ask you out to make him jealous or anything. You're a nice guy, I really like you and I thought it'd be fun. I had no ulterior motives related to that dick and…" 

Dave cut him off. He was no stranger to uncomfortable rambling and he didn't want Danny to be uncomfortable. "Danny, it's okay," he said sincerely. "I wouldn't even object if you wanted to make your ex a little jealous tonight." 

Danny smiled. Dave was surprised by his own flirting. It was something that he didn't think himself capable of. "You mean that?" Danny asked with a smirk that was just as playful as his own. "It would kill him to see me with a guy that was as gorgeous as you are." 

Dave's heart practically stopped beating at that one. "We better go." 

They arrived at the club and Dave had to admit that his eyes absolutely went wide at the sight of it. When they got inside he was even more shocked. The club was big, loud and full of sweaty, half-naked bodies. The lights were flickering and it was almost intoxicating. "I am so not in Ohio anymore," Dave said as he and Danny squeezed their way across the dance floor and headed over to the bar. 

Danny chuckled at his comment and ordered both of their drinks for them. He seemed to already know the bartender. The man smiled at Danny and gestured across the club. "Douchey ex at two o'clock," he said with a playful smirk. "I can see that you're doing much better for yourself. Who's the hot bear now?" 

Danny turned bright red at that. "This is Dave," he said. "He's new to Beacon Hills." 

The man nodded. "Nice meeting you," he said with a playful smirk. "I think that Mark's gonna be kicking himself in the ass seeing you two together." 

Danny rolled his eyes and then the bartender was gone. "Sorry about that," he said. 

"No problem," Dave said. 

Dave took a moment to look over at Danny's ex. He was nothing special and he was definitely trying to make Danny jealous, grinding up close to a half-clothed boy. He winked at Dave and then leaned into the boy's neck. Dave had to roll his eyes. It was ridiculous. Danny looked very uncomfortable too. 

Dave downed his drink and looked to Danny. "Let's dance," he said, surprising himself by his own boldness. Danny smiled and finished his drink too. He took Dave out to the dance floor. Despite the fact that he felt big, lumbering and awkward, Dave found himself growing comfortable with Danny, a smile creeping across his face as they danced. 

"You're good," Danny said against Dave's ear so that he could hear. He wasn't sure if the other boy was trying making him feel better or he genuinely meant it, but he was enjoying it either way. He looked over at Danny's ex and saw that the boy was shaking his head and laughing at them. "Don't mind that jackass. My attention is elsewhere." Danny grinned. 

Dave got caught up in dancing with Danny. Nothing else really mattered in that moment because his attention was elsewhere too. That was when something started to go bad. In the time that it took Dave to blink, several guys fell to the floor, shaking and paralyzed as if they were going through some kind of seizure. He couldn't see clearly and he immediately moved to Danny. 

That was when, of course, the other fell to the floor as well. He reached for him, but to get to Danny he had to crawl on the floor. The club fell to chaos and hysteria. There were guys running from all sides and it was too dark to see what was causing all of these guys to fall to the ground. "I can't move!" Danny yelled at him, panicking a little bit. His eyes got big and Dave knew that something was very wrong. He stayed close to Danny, on his knees, trying to avoid any danger until the figurative smoke cleared. 

It was a blur until the cops showed up and the ambulances started to arrive. He recognized his uncle, but instead of going for the sheriff he stayed close to Danny while the paramedics pulled the other teenager up onto a stretcher. "What the hell is going on?" he asked in a breathy, confused voice as they loaded him up. 

"We have no clue yet, but please be calm," said a stiff female EMT. 

Danny and Dave waited by the ambulance. Danny was completely paralyzed from the neck down and starting to freak out. "I have no clue what the hell's going on," he said sharply, looking at Dave but keeping on a brave face. Dave just looked back at him and tried to be assuring. He grabbed Danny's hand, disturbed by the fact that the other teenager couldn't grab him back. 

That was when Scott approached. Dave recognized Stiles' best friend immediately. He could swear he saw Stiles too, lurking over by the Sheriff but he couldn't tell if it was him for sure. His vision was blurry from all the hysteria. "Danny, are you okay?" he asked softly, looking at Danny desperately.

"Did it happen to my ex too?" Danny asked groggily.

Scott turned his head and then looked back. Dave looked to where Danny's jerkass ex was being loaded onto another stretcher. "Yeah," Scott said.   
Danny actually smiled at that. "I'm great." Dave smiled. Danny had the best personality ever even in a horrifying situation.


	8. Chapter 8

"You know, he's going to be fine." Stiles looked up to see his father staring at him. After their awkward conversation about his reasons for being at a gay bar, Stiles was feeling more awkward than ever. "That Danny, kid, I mean. Is there any chance that you can convince Dave to get out of here and go back home? I know that Dave's a little bit on the…smitten side…" 

Stiles nodded at his father's words. "I'll go get him," he said. He wondered how Dave would feel if he knew that Jackson had just tried to kill his would-be boyfriend. He sighed deeply. He wanted to tell the other boy that he needed to get out of Beacon Hills and head back to Ohio where things were safe. 

The whole situation was beyond terrible. He hated every second of it. He quickly went to Danny's room, where Scott was standing by the door. "What is it?" Stiles asked. 

Scott rolled his eyes a little. "I need to talk to Danny, but I don't want to make your cousin suspicious," he said. "Can you get him out of here?" Of course, it was all up to the amazing Stiles Stilinski. He rolled his eyes back at Scott. He quickly opened the door and walked inside. "Danny, can I steal Dave for a second?" 

Danny nodded.

Stiles got Dave outside, Scott went inside. It was all as simple as that. Dave, however, was looking at him curiously. "Dude, were you at the club last night?" Dave asked. Stiles cursed under his breath. He had hoped that the other teenager didn't see him.

"Yeah, I was there," he said. "Scott and I were…uh, spying on you." He took a deep breath, shaking his head at the lie. He wasn't the type to spy on someone else's date and that was more than obvious. "I wanted to make sure that you and Danny were hitting it off okay and Scott and I were bored…" 

Dave didn't believe Stiles' obvious lie. He didn't keep pressing though. "What happened tonight?" he asked his cousin, looking a little bit amazed. "I mean…all of a sudden my date drops like he's been…paralyzed by something." 

"Um, the police are thinking that some sort of drug might have caused it." Stiles was well aware of how lame he sounded, but there was little else that he could do. 

"You mean…a drug that nobody physically ingested?" Dave asked thoughtfully. "I mean if it was in the air then it wouldn't have only taken down like a dozen guys. I just don't understand." 

He clasped his cousin on the shoulder and shook his head. "I know that was a pretty sucktastic first date," he said. 

"Honestly, it wasn't," Dave said with a slightly nervous smile. "I really like him…" Stiles could tell that liking Danny meant something to Dave, so he stuck to that topic. It was a lot safer than the lizard creature that had nearly killed the boy he liked, right? 

"I think he really likes you too," Stiles said sincerely. He could tell that Danny definitely had a thing for his cousin. It sucked to see Dave so insecure about himself. Stiles was no werewolf, but he had to admit that spending time around them made him a little more sensitive to the subtle changes in people's tone. Unfortunately, Stiles couldn't spend much more time talking about Dave and Danny because well, the lizard creature wandering around Beacon Hills was a much more pressing issue. "Did you see anything weird tonight?" 

"You mean besides a bunch of guys dropping to the floor paralyzed from the neck down?" Dave asked. 

"Well, you know what I mean." 

His words made Dave smile a little bit. "No, I really didn't see anything weird," he said. "I was dancing with Danny when he went down, but there were so many lights and…there was a lot going on. I mean, trust me dude, that place overwhelmed my senses. You would never find a place like that back home." 

Stiles snorted at that. He could definitely imagine that a small town guy would be surprised. Hell, he had grown up in two larger towns and he was scared the moment that he was accosted by a group of drag queens. It was just an interesting scenario that he was in. "Well, Dad says that Danny's fine and we should go home…" 

Dave nodded, looking into the window. Danny was dressing. "Alright," he said. 

He went in, said goodbye to Danny and then Stiles got him home. At least his cousin was safe for one more night.

Now Stiles was far too busy trying not to let anyone else get murdered to talk to Derek further, but a week or so after Dave and Danny almost got killed at the gay club, Stiles found himself in Derek's favorite hold. Yes, once again the alpha werewolf had him up against the wall and was asking him for information. "Why do you always go to me instead of Scott for this stuff?" Stiles asked, prying himself out of Derek's tight grip. He was starting to get annoyed by Derek's insistence of grabbing him, getting up in his face and asking questions. 

"Scott doesn't trust me and I don't trust Scott," Derek said sincerely. 

"And yet you trust his puny mortal sidekick," Stiles said, rolling his eyes with frustration. "The amount I don't understand you is extreme." 

"So, do you have anything else for me Stiles?" Derek asked, leaning down so close that his lips were practically brushing against the teenagers. "I mean this thing is killing people." 

"I'm well aware," Stiles said, looking into Derek's eyes. Sometimes he wanted Derek to just break out of the tight restraint he was holding. He was either going to break loose and kiss him on the lips or he was going to break loose and punch him in the face. He leaned closer, daring Derek to just do one or another. Derek leaned forward and then broke away violently. 

"How bout I send the files to you?" Stiles said, as Derek ran out of the room. 

He did not understand that werewolf.


	9. Chapter 9

Dave immediately understood that lacrosse in Beacon Hills was as big, if not bigger, than football in Lima, when he attended his first lacrosse game. It was pretty intense and he followed every second eagerly. He was particularly drawn towards the goal, where Danny blocked practically everything that came his way. He couldn't hide the fact that he liked Danny, a lot. A blush crossed his face. 

He noticed that his cousin was, in fact, stuck on the bench, so halfway through the game he snuck down the bleachers a little bit and hung right behind Stiles. "Is he ever gonna let you play?" he asked, a sad tone that was actually genuine. Even if Stiles wasn't any good at lacrosse or whatever, Dave still knew how much it sucked to be benched for the entirety of the game. 

"Likelihood of that is low," Stiles said, turning and smiling at Dave. "How do you like your first lacrosse game though?" 

"It's more…intense than I thought it would be," Dave admitted. He had never imagined that the sport was so aggressive, violent or extreme. He really liked it though and even though the scores were close, Beacon Hills always seemed to remain at least a few points above the competition. "Everyone out there is really, really good though." 

"I'm betting my money on your eyes being on the goal," Stiles said, his voice low and teasing. Dave went red, even though he knew that it was just friendly banter. He rolled his eyes at Stiles' words. 

"Yeah," he said. "That's where the eyes are. You caught me." 

"No shame in that whatsoever," he said. "No shame." 

The game was pretty intense right up to the end, but Beacon Hills ended up winning by a few points. Everyone was ecstatic, the fans going crazy in the stands. Dave waited around by the bleachers for Stiles, but someone else found his way to Dave first. Danny walked up to Dave wearing a t-shirt and jeans, his hair wet, probably from having just gotten out of the shower. He was wearing a huge, blissed-out smile..

"So, how'd you like your first big lacrosse game?" Danny asked Dave with that sweet smile never fading. He was honestly too ridiculous to be real. 

"It was awesome," Dave told him, unable to keep from smiling with Danny around. "I mean...I was watching you at the goal and you're fantastic..."

"I manage," Danny said nodding. "It was a pretty close match but we did a good job." He sat on the bottom bleacher and looked to Dave with a sheepish smile. Dave sat down right next to him, knowing that if Stiles saw them then he wouldn't interrupt. His cousin was a dork but he wasn't clueless. "So, I was thinking...would you wanna go on a real date some time? I'd really love to...if you would." 

"This date wouldn't involve mysterious illnesses, right?" Dave asked, trying his hand at being humorous about their last outing together. 

"I swear I'll try my best," Danny responded. 

"Then I'd love to." 

"Awesome," Danny said. "I know a good restaurant just outside of town. I'll pick you up at Stiles' house at seven this coming Saturday. How does that sound?" 

"Sounds great." 

In the week that led him to his date with Danny, it became evident that Beacon Hills wasn't the safe little town he believed it to be. There were murders occurring, pretty gruesome murders at that. His uncle was out of the house most of the time and Stiles was honestly just as distant as his father. Dave was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, but at the same time followed the news closely. 

In one of the rare moments when his uncle was home, they got to talking. "I'm sorry I haven't been around the house much," Sheriff Stilinski said, looking at Dave apologetically. "I hope that Stiles has been keeping you company. It's just with these unexplainable crimes happening, I'm needed around." 

"It's no problem at all," Dave said awkwardly. 

"Stiles has been around for you, right?" the man asked, looking uncertain. He seemed to know that Stiles was acting strange, but since he didn't have an explanation for it, Dave couldn't say anything. He also wanted to protect his cousin.

"Of course," he said, hoping the lie wasn't noticed. 

"How've you liked Beacon Hills?" the man asked Dave with a bright smile that was distracted but genuine. 

"It's awesome," Dave said honestly. "You know, minus the weird crimes. It's still about a million times better than Lima though. I'm so glad that I came here and I'm incredibly thankful to you for letting me stay." 

"Well that's what family's for and I'd do anything to help you." 

"I needed it," Dave said softly. "Thank you." He hoped he conveyed how much this really did mean to him. After the suicide attempt he had felt strangled, stuck in a hole. His father's urge to find him some kind of peace had opened a whole world of opportunities. 

"How's school going? Oh and what about that Danny kid from the lacrosse team?" Sheriff Stilinski seemed genuinely interested in his silly teenage endeavors, something that made Dave appreciate his uncle immensely. 

"School's going great," Dave said. "I've caught up with everything that I missed. Things with Danny are also going pretty great. I mean, we're not dating or anything but he asked me to go out with him this weekend." 

Dave silently added that he was counting the days until the date. 

"Awesome," Sheriff Stilinski said. "Sorry David, but I have to go again. If you see Stiles will you tell that kid to call me at the office." 

"Will do."


	10. Chapter 10

The date with Danny was nothing short of fantastic. Danny was very easy to talk to. While they ate dinner Danny told him about his family, his friends and even about the charges against him in middle school for computer hacking. Dave, on the other hand, shared very little, which led to the question that turned the lighthearted conversation more serious. Luckily, they were just about finished with dinner. "Why did you come to Beacon Hills, Dave?" asked Danny.

Dave looked at Danny and had no idea how to answer. "I…that's a very difficult question," he said honestly. "I had a very difficult time coming out of the closet, I guess you could say." 

Dave could tell that Danny noticed his hesitance by the way that he stared. They paid for their meals and when they walked outside, Danny apologized. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories," he said softly. "I know that it can be pretty brutal for some guys. I was lucky. I'm sorry that I asked." 

"Oh, nothing wrong with asking," Dave dismissed. "I deserved the crap that I got anyway." 

Danny instantly frowned at that. He reached out and grabbed Dave's hand as they walked around the area. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, softly and obviously alarmed. Dave supposed it was alarming.

"I was a total bully at school," Dave admitted honestly, shrugging. "I was a dick who tortured kids for being different, especially the guy I fell in love with. I'm sure that it was about time it came back to me."

The area was a pretty popular teenage hangout and consisted of several restaurants and stores, as well as a small movie theater. They were far from alone but Dave didn't feel uncomfortable walking around and holding another boy's hand at all. Danny seemed unhappy with what Dave was telling him. "You seem to have really turned yourself around," he said sweetly.

"I tried," Dave said softly. 

"Nobody deserves to be harassed," Danny said. "Was it bad?" 

Dave nodded, trying not to remember the Facebook messages, the slurs surrounding him at every moment. He had felt like every pair of eyes in the whole school rested on him. It wasn't fair. He had gone to Thurston just to start a new life, live out his senior year so he could get the hell out of high school. He took a deep breath, trying not to think about the panic and terror that had led him to deciding that dying was the best thing he could do to end the pain.

"It was bad…" he whispered. 

Danny stopped him, facing forward and looking into his eyes. Danny was really a perceptive guy, because he could see something was wrong. Dave felt that he was very exposed and he hated it. "I'm sorry," Danny said softly. "I've always known that I was blessed in my experiences with coming out." 

"I was…outed," Dave said honestly. He wasn't ready to tell Danny about the suicide attempt that he'd made yet, but he could at least say that. Another gay teenager would understand how horrifying that was. 

"Oh my god," Danny said, understanding in the way that Dave predicted he would. His face darkened and he shook his head. "Nobody deserves to be outed against their will. I'm so sorry." 

"Y-yeah," Dave said shaking his head at the memories. "I told the guy that I was in love with how I felt, some dick from school heard and it all fell to pieces." He wondered if he'd be able to tell Danny about the suicide attempt soon. He felt like he could talk about anything around the guy and be comfortable. He was pretty awesome.

"I am so sorry Dave." 

At that, Danny looked around. It seemed that they had been walking without really paying any attention to their surroundings at all. Danny turned their path and led them over to a set of chairs and outdoor couches that were near a fireplace. He and Dave took one of the two person couch set ups. Danny looked at Dave, something going through his eyes.

"Do you think that my kissing you would be okay?" Danny asked politely.

Dave's heart stopped a little at that, but he managed to nod. 

The kiss was pretty magical. Danny leaned forward and their lips brushed. It was a light kiss, but enough to send Dave into a whirlwind. He forced himself to stop thinking for a moment and just enjoy the moment. It was the first kiss that he'd stolen from both Kurt and himself, redone as something perfect. This was his first kiss. 

While Dave was better than ever, Stiles was pretty convinced that anxiety would eventually be the death of him. He was constantly trying to keep his friends and now his cousin from dying and on top of that there was this thing with Derek that kept happening. The big rave coming up was certain to be a scene of mass murder and rumor on the streets was that Danny Mahealani had snagged tickets. If he took Dave with him then the first scene of mass murder was going to be Stiles killing him.

"You can't take him," Stiles said, entering the locker room and coming up from behind Danny. He had absolutely no logical reason why Danny couldn't take his cousin where he damn well pleased, but Stiles wasn't going to let that logic get the best of him now.

"Back up," Danny instructed dully. "Take who where?"

"My cousin. Rave thing. Got it?"

Danny blinked a little bit and a smile graced his face. "I admire your protectiveness Stiles," he said softly, sincerely.  
"Don't worry. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to Dave. I know that he comes from a pretty delicate place and I'm gonna be careful." Stiles was about to start about Danny completely missing the point when Danny continued. "I kissed him on our date the other day, Stiles. I want to ask him to go out with me, maybe. He's really nice to be around."

That surprised him and took him off of his immediate must-protect-Dave mission. "Oh…" He was really pleasantly surprised and really pleased for his cousin. "Um, okay." He would have to worry about Dave later


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles life was just a mess of frustration. Was it that much to ask that his friends and family not die horribly? This werewolf stuff was tearing into his already fragile mental state. He was not in a good mood when he woke up one Sunday morning amidst thoughts of how to keep everyone around him safe. There was just too much going on in his head. 

That wasn't even mentioning the psychotic werewolf who kept going to him because Scott distrusted him. Yes, Stiles constantly found himself being slammed up against walls by Derek, the werewolf without a sense of personal space. "Derek, I am not in the mood to be grilled," Stiles said as Derek confronted him after school. "If I knew something that could help you, I would." 

"I don't believe that." 

Derek made Stiles sad despite the fact that he was currently annoying the crap out of him. Derek didn't know how to trust anyone. He'd lived his life knowing that his trust was the reason his family got killed. Stiles thought he had hang-ups… "Derek," he said, pushing back this time and looking into his eyes. "You can trust me, okay?" He walked over to his car, gesturing for Derek to follow. To his surprise, Derek did and … pushed him against the side of the jeep. "You really gotta stop doing that," Stiles breathed out, surprised. He looked up into Derek's eyes, wondering why the werewolf wasn't talking. Maybe the moment would finally come when Derek decided that he was going to kill him.

Stiles leaned up, wondering if Derek was going to kiss him or kill him. Luckily, Derek opted for choice number one. Their lips brushed lightly at first and then Derek kissed him more deeply, forcing his body up against the side of the car. Stiles was perfectly aware that just about anyone could walk by and see them, but he didn't care. He was so relieved that they were finally kissing. The tension that had mounted up between the two of them had finally reached a breaking point.

"We shouldn't have done that," Derek said, ripping himself away from Stiles. By the time that Stiles caught his breath the werewolf had fled, probably already halfway to his stupid Camaro. 

"I hate my life," he groaned, slipping down against the wall. Eternal frustration would be the title of his autobiography if his survived this.

When Stiles came home and saw that his father was trying to deduce the connection between the recent murder suspects that actually provided significant relief from the stress in his head. It was a crazy world that he lived in when gruesome murders led to stress relief. It also led to answers that he would have never anticipated. Each of the victims of the murders had been in the same year at Beacon Hills High School. They had also been in Mr. Harris' chemistry class. Stiles always knew his chemistry teacher was beyond evil, but he had never started to suspect him of being the big bad until that very moment. 

He also took care of the keeping Dave safe thing by employing Isaac to steal Danny's tickets. That worked spectacularly, despite its underhandedness. When things went a certain way you had to be downright cunning. Stiles was dead convinced that disaster was on its way and he'd be damned if that disaster put his cousin in danger. Stiles went to sleep convinced that he had protected his cousin, but also feeling pretty certain life sucked. He hated life, including Derek Hale. 

He woke up the next morning pretty sure that his cousin was smarter than anyone gave him credit for being. "I heard you and your dad talking about the murders," Dave told Stiles with a knowing expression. 

"Oh yeah, those things are pretty rough," Stiles said, as if murder was something that didn't bother him at all. What kind of psychopath was completely unbothered by the idea of casual murder? He wasn't sure about that. "We've worked out some connections." 

"So I've heard," Dave said and Stiles wondered if the trait for eavesdroppers was genetic or something. "They were all in the 2006 yearbook like you and your dad thought, but I have a tip to drop. I don't want your dad to think I was eavesdropping so looks like you get credit for this idea." 

Stiles perked up. Did Dave think of something they hadn't? 

"I picked up the yearbook and flipped through it," he said. "All of the murder victims so far were on the swim team. The man who died right before I got here was the coach of the team as well." Dave then smiled at Stiles, looking at him shyly, like he shouldn't have said that. "Okay, now I gotta go. I'm meeting Danny." 

"My cousin is freaking brilliant!" Stiles yelled out, before heading off to tell his father and, of course, Scott and the rest of the Hale pack.


	12. Chapter 12

As predicted, the rave ended in disaster. A woman was dead and the jackass turned monster known as Jackson was roaming free. Hunters went crazy and Allison's psychotic mother nearly killed Scott. He would have, if not for Derek. Yeah, his best friend had almost died and the world was a huge goddamned mess, but at least he kept his family safe. That was Stiles Stilinski, looking on the bright side of things. 

Speaking of family, Dave was picking up on his anxiety. "Dude, can we talk?" he asked, one day as they headed home in Stiles' jeep. 

"What's up?" he asked, a little disturbed by the grim tone in his cousin's voice. 

Dave sat down on Stiles' bed, so Stiles took it upon himself to join him. "You seem worn down," Dave said softly. "I know a lot of bad stuff has been going down in town, so I wanted to know if you were okay." 

He swallowed. Dave was so careful with him. His cousin wasn't that much older than him but Stiles could tell that he was wiser, so in tune with human suffering. "It's nothing serious," he told Dave. "I've just been dealing with a lot." 

"You don't have to deal with things alone," Dave said softly. "I'm serious." 

Stiles smiled at that. "I don't even know how to explain the mess that is my head," he admitted to Dave. It said nothing, but it was a lot more honest than Stiles had been with anyone lately. He had not told a soul about the fact that he was mentally struggling, big time. "I'm just anxious. A lot of bad things are happening around here lately…" 

"You're worried about your dad, aren't you?" Dave asked. 

Despite the fact that it wasn't that simple, Stiles was surprised to find that Dave picked up on the key aspect of his fear. He was afraid of losing someone else, watching someone else that he loved succumb to the madness that was overtaking Beacon Hills. It was natural for Dave, who was not clued in about any of the madness, to believe that he was afraid for just his dad, because his father was a police chief in a town plagued by murders. "Yeah," he said honestly. "Everything's just so crazy and I can hardly sort myself out." 

"I've been there," Dave said. 

"I'm sorry," Stiles said, seeing the real human pain that passed through Dave's eyes. He couldn't really imagine what it was like to be suicidal. Yeah, sometimes he felt like he wanted to close his eyes and never open them again, but he never had actually wanted to die. He'd never leave his father alone, not willingly. "I can't even imagine what it must have felt like to…" 

"Don't worry about it," Dave said, shrugging his broad shoulders. "I just know that you can't let thoughts get stirred up in your head and not let them out. You can't be alone with thoughts that drive you crazy." 

"You're right, thanks Dave," Stiles said, but he honestly had no idea how to talk about his feelings with his cousin. He had at least acknowledged that the other boy was right, so that was a start. 

"It's no problem," Dave said eagerly. "Anyway, dude, how are things with that Derek guy? Is he still creeping on you?"

Stiles laughed bitterly, thinking about the feeling of Derek's lips on his. "He kissed me," he said blandly, rolling his eyes at the memory and trying to act like it was unimportant. To be honest, the touch of Derek's lips was something that would never go away. It wasn't just lingering, it was permanently affixed to him. 

"Did you want it?" 

Dave was so eager to make sure that he wanted it. Stiles knew that what he had done to that kid back home had really affected him. Stiles nodded. "I didn't know I did at the exact moment, but yeah I did," he said with a slight chuckle, trying to speak in a light tone in order to comfort Dave. He didn't want to bring back any memories that his cousin would rather not have. "I wanted it, but at the same time it confused the hell out of me. Derek's so withdrawn and broody and…and…he said that we could never let it happen again, whatever the hell that means." 

"Confront him about it," Dave said immediately. "I mean, there's absolutely nothing that you can do until you know what's going on in his head." 

"I'm not sure I want to know what's going on in Derek's head half of the time," Stiles said with a bitter smile on his face. "Anyway, if the news on the grapevine is true, I'm not the only dude getting kissed in Beacon Hills." He watched with pleasure as Dave's face reddened slightly. He thought that it was pretty cool that Danny and Dave were into each other. They were both great guys and Danny was incredibly normal, as far as Stiles knew. 

"Yeah," Dave said with a dreamy, stupid smile that made Stiles laugh. It was absolutely adorable to see this big, burly jock absolutely taken down by things like kisses and dates. "I don't really know if we're gonna become a thing or not, but it was pretty cool." 

"Congrats, dude, congrats," Stiles said. "I honestly think that we're both gonna be okay."


	13. Chapter 13

He barely knew her, but somehow Stiles had convinced Dave to attend Lydia Martin's birthday party with him. Evidently she was going through some things that made most of the school see her as a "whackjob" in Stiles' words and she needed all of the support she could get. Dave felt really awkward about it, but Stiles was very firm in his insistence, so she could not resist. 

He asked Danny to come with him. Danny was able to go, but told Dave that he would have to arrive late due to prior commitments. That meant that Dave was pretty much alone standing around, searching for Stiles who had been dragged off by a group of drag queens. No, Dave had no idea what that was about and no, he didn't really feel much like finding out about it. 

He did, however, run into the party host herself. Lydia Martin was incredibly bright and bubbly at that moment. "You're Stiles' cousin!" she pointed out, as if this fact was a new thing. "It's nice to finally get to sit down and chat with you, never mind the fact that we're not sitting. I hope that you're having fun and drinking plenty of punch, because I made sure we'd never run out." 

She then thrust a cup into his hands. They chatted idly for a few more minutes and then she was whisked away to someone else. Dave couldn't believe that she was evidently the girl Stiles had been in love with for years. Yes, she was beautiful, but she seemed to be way difficult to handle. He took a sip of the punch in his hand, wincing, because it was definitely spiked, but hey, maybe being a little drunk would relieve his nerves. 

He stopped and spoke to a few people over the course of his first half hour there. Apparently, Danny was very well known in Beacon Hills, a fact that made Dave smile. It was so nice to live in a place where an out-and-proud gay guy wouldn't be completely rejected on the sole basis of his sexuality.

After his second glass of punch a pleasant buzz set in. He retreated back towards a wall, realizing that he had to go to the bathroom. He set down his cup and walked to the nearest bathroom. Nobody knew where it was, so he had to experiment a bit. Finally he found the door, opening it up and stepping forward. 

Inside the bathroom, he was overtaken by an image. 

The image was of him, standing on the chair in his bedroom, wearing pressed formal clothes. Dave caught his breath as he realized what he was looking at. In that moment of realization, the version of himself standing in front of him took a step, the steps underneath him clattering down. He watched himself hang there, gasping and clawing at the belt around his neck. The phantom kicked and struggled but before long went still in front of him. Dave then watched as an image of his father appeared, approaching the dead body that hung from the roof.

"Wow, that's a pity," Paul said, looking up at his body and giving it a sigh. "This is going to look so bad for business." He took Dave's body down with indifference, not the devastation that he attested to after the suicide attempt. That was when other apparitions began to appear in the form of nameless, faceless classmates. Why had Dave cared so much about their opinions of him? 

"Another faggot kills himself...not that interesting..." 

"He's so pathetic, I'm sure this is the only thing he got right." 

Dave dropped to his knees as the words rang in his ears as if they were real, but oh god, they couldn't be real. His head spun and he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't happening. Pretty soon after that the apparitions stopped being random and started being faceless. They started being people that mattered to him as much as his father.

Kurt looked at him with pity and disdain. "I can't believe that after all the hell he put me through, that he couldn't survive some simple name calling," Kurt said, looking at him like he was the most disgusting creature that Kurt could ever seen. 

"Tell me about it," Stiles said. "He's my cousin." 

"I wanted to ask him to be my boyfriend," Danny said, "but who would want someone like this to go out with you?" 

That was when Dave broke down sobbing as hard as he could and pleading the images to stop. That was when Danny appeared again, next to the other image of Danny and shook Dave as hard as he could. "Dave," he said, shaking him hard. He even slapped him on the shoulder. Danny then got up and went to the faucet and grabbed a washcloth. He wiped the cloth over Dave's face and the images in front of him slowly started to fade out. 

Dave stared blankly at the floor, his head spinning. "What's going on?" he whispered out loud. Why was he seeing such horrible things? They weren't real, were they? He frowned as the hysteria overtook him. 

"I don't know," Danny whispered. "I showed up late and everyone was tripping out." He rubbed Dave's back and when Dave came to, handed him the washcloth. Dave wiped his face, trying to shake off whatever that had been.

"What the hell was in my drink?" Dave asked. It had to have been his drink to make him see those horrible things. "I was hallucinating, right?" Those images could not be real. 

"I think so," Danny soothed him gently. 

"It was vivid, like it was real, but not," Dave tried to explain as best as he could. He had known that there was no way he could be watching his own body hang there, but at the same time the logic hadn't exactly held when he was absolutely devastated, trying to stop the images from happening. "Something's really wrong, Danny. I don't know what but something is really, really wrong." 

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Danny assured. her took Dave by the shoulders and stood up with him. "I'm going to take you home Dave and we'll get to the bottom of this. I'll help you figure it out." 

Dave was dumbstruck as Danny took him to the car and sat him down. "Can you text Stiles?" he asked in a raspy voice. He had come with his cousin and didn't want him to worry about it. Danny did so immediately.

The drive home was silent because Dave's head was reeling. He didn't speak until Danny opened the door to the car. "You're coming in with me?" Dave asked. 

"Of course," Danny said. 

The house was empty, so Danny walked right in with Dave and sat him down on the sofa. He went into the kitchen and wordlessly came back with a glass of water. He handed it over and sat down next to him.

"There was some kind of drug in the punch," Dave said. "That's the only explanation for what I saw…" 

"It has to be," Danny agreed. "Can we talk to your uncle about it?" 

"Maybe," Dave said. "I don't want him to go back to my dad and for my dad to worry about me though… He's…got a lot of reason to worry about me. "

"What do you mean?"

Dave looked to Danny and in that moment decided he trusted him. He had to get this out to someone, somehow and Danny meant so much to him already. "Danny, dude, I…I tried to kill myself," he said softly. "That's what I saw."


	14. Chapter 14

Danny looked shocked by what Dave told him, but did not look at all upset at him or disgusted. That alone was enough to make Dave sigh with relief. Now, he wasn't dumb. He knew that no decent person was going to judge someone for something like that, but his thought process wasn't exactly logical at that moment. He just needed to talk to someone with those images in his head and Danny was there for him. Danny was right there and Dave trusted him. Dave tried to stay calm, but it was difficult to do so after what he had seen and now what he was telling Danny. 

"I'm sorry to lay that on you," he said gently. "It just really sucks and I swear I saw myself succeeding tonight..." 

"Oh Dave," Danny said, eyes wide. "I am so sorry. I had no idea that you'd gone through something so terrible." 

"Yeah, that's why I moved here," Dave said honestly. "My dad thought that I could finish my senior year of high school in a better place. He was right, honestly. Being here is the best thing to ever have happened to me." 

Danny was incredibly supportive as Dave told him the details about the suicide attempt. He was incredibly emotional as well, telling Dave how sorry he was and how much he wished they had known each other then. Danny swore that if he knew Dave he would have been there, no matter what. 

"Well, if I knew a gay guy who looked and acted like you, I may have been braver," Dave admitted. "I had such a narrow, shallow view of what it meant for me to be gay. The only gay kid I'd ever known was pretty much a walking, talking stereotype, and I say that while totally admitting I was in love with him. I never really realized that a gay dude could be..." 

"Like us?" Danny asked with a grin that made Dave's heart melt just a little bit more. He was amazing. 

"Yeah, like us."

"We're pretty damned awesome, aren't we?" Danny asked with the same cheeky expression on his face. Dave could tell that underneath the suave, intelligent athlete, Danny was also a dork. "I'm glad that I met you Dave. I've spent a lot of time pining over the unobtainable myself and being...just...stupid in falling for the wrong guys. It's kind of nice to be drawn to a real guy, a guy who has a history and is smarter than any guy I've ever known." "Well I wouldn't say that."   
"I would," Danny said with a smile and that was when Dave couldn't resist it anymore. He leaned down and kissed Danny passionately, their lips brushing against each other's slowly. Dave took the initiative in deepening the kiss, holding Danny as close to him as possible. 

"Does this mean we're..." 

"Dating? Totally."

Dave definitely could deal with that. No choice had ever been as right for him as the choice to move to Beacon Hills. 

In the aftermath of Lydia's party, Stiles had to convince someone that Matt was the one who had been committing the murders, at the same time keeping it from everyone that the murders had been committed by the supernatural creature that Matt had as his righthand man. His father, naturally, thought that he was crazy. 

"As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, Stiles, I don't see how any of what you just said constitutes as proof." 

Stiles watched helplessly as his dad walked away. He needed to convince the man that Matt committed the murders, but he didn't know how. In that moment, he was approached by Dave. "How do you know who did it?" Dave asked. "Who did it?" 

Stiles stammered over his first question, but recovered by answering the second. "You know Matt?" he asked. 

"No, who is he?" Dave asked. 

Stiles sighed heavily. He did not want Dave involved in any of this, but aside from Scott he was so very alone. "He's this creepy loner guy in my year," he explained. 

"Why do you think that it's him?" Dave asked. 

"I just...I just know. I now need a way to prove it to others." 

"You gotta pinpoint him as being at the scene of the murders," Dave said. "Then you can prove it to everyone." 

"We need to get into the police evidence..."

Eventually, between Dave and Scott, Stiles was able to convince his father to let them go to the station to examine the evidence. He, Scott and Dave, along with his father, looked through the evidence, including video evidence from the hospital the night of the murder. They had to pinpoint the fact that Matt had been there that night and that Matt was the one to kill the pregnant woman.


	15. Chapter 15

It wasn't long until using footage of the hospital and eyewitness testimony of Scott's mother, did the group find out that Matt was undoubtedly at the scene of several of the murders. Sheriff Stilinski immediately started to prepare for a warrant and Scott stilled as he looked over at the rest of them. "I hear a car outside," he said. Dave wondered how the hell Scott had heard anything, but didn't think much of it, and watched as the Stilinski's handled the situation with ease and expert behavior. 

That was when Scott came back with a kid holding a gun to his head. 

Dave watched as his uncle handled the situation with all of the ability of an experienced law enforcement officer. He would be impressed with the man if he wasn't scared to death. "Matt, I presume," he said, putting himself between Matt and his son and nephew. 

"You presume right," Matt said. He waved his gun. "To the wall," he ordered Scott. Scott quickly did what he was told. 

"Matt, if you put the gun down then we can talk…" 

"I'm not here to talk," Matt said. "I want McCall and his sidekick to help me out." 

"Dude, stay calm," Stiles said bravely. "Scott and I will help you." 

Matt gestured with his gun and Scott and Stiles followed him. Dave felt his uncle's soothing touch on his shoulder but didn't dare to look that way. Matt didn't return for a long moment, something that was terrifying to them both. "Do whatever I tell you, alright?" Dave's uncle ordered. 

"Okay," he said softly, just as Matt came back. 

He pointed his gun at them. "Alright Sheriff," he said, the title mocking, "I want you and your pet gorilla to move."

The boy ushered them at gunpoint into a holding area. He tossed Dave into a holding cell and then looked at the older man before thinking better of it. He quickly handcuffed him to the wall away from Dave. "Why does he want Scott and Stiles?" Dave asked his uncle in a whisper, as soon as Matt left them alone once again. "What could he want from them?" 

"I don't know," he said. "David, just stay calm." 

Dave tried his hardest not to panic, because he had to keep his wits about him. He wasn't religious in the slightest, but almost wanted to pray that the guy wouldn't hurt Stiles. He was so scared that his cousin was going to get seriously hurt or killed. He could tell in his uncle's haunted eyes that this was his greatest fear. He watched in amazement as his uncle started struggling with the cuffs that were chaining him to the wall. 

"Can you get out of there?" he asked in a whisper. 

"Possibly," the sheriff mumbled. 

Dave watched his uncle struggle in amazement, wishing that there was something he could do to get out of his own predicament. He wanted to be there for Stiles like his cousin had been there for him since he came to California. He frowned heavily, trying to think. 

His uncle continued to struggle with the bindings until something stilled them both: a gunshot. "No," Dave whispered, shaking his head and hoping to God that his cousin was okay. He squeezed the bars in his hands and looked at his uncle to see true terror on the man's face. "He's fine," he said firmly, trying to assure both of them. 

A few minutes later it was more than evident that a fight was occurring. A loud thumping resonated through the walls. "Stiles!" 

At that the sheriff's struggle to escape the chains renewed with a new vigor. He pulled and tugged and finally, they gave way. "Damn," Dave whispered. It wasn't that he doubted his uncle's ability but still, the man wasn't much younger than his dad and it was one of those amazing one-in-a-million feats of strength. The man looked to Dave and nodded slowly.

"Just stay back to the wall, I'm going to take care of this." He thrust the keys to the cell into Dave's hand. "Stay here but use these if you're able to get out." 

It took a whole five minutes for Dave to open the cell and head out, hoping he could do something to help Stiles, at least. When he got into the hallway he saw his uncle lying on the floor, Matt standing above him with a gun. To Dave's extreme relief he saw that the man wasn't shot. It looked like he'd been hit in the back of the head with the gun. 

Matt stood above the sheriff's unconscious form. He locked eyes with Dave. "You're someone that I'd like to kill," he said, "but I'm not going to because watching all of this blow your mind will be so much fun."

At that, a large shape burst through the door, accompanied by another. They fell to the floor in their battle with one another. That was when Dave realized that one of them was some kind of lizard man, scaly skin and the whole nine yards. He swore that he was hallucinating as the big lizard man tossed the other form up and against the brick wall. The man that he threw howled in shock, a sound that was completely inhuman as well. 

Dave then saw the face of the second man. It was distorted into the shape of an animal, a wolf. 

Dave backed up instinctively but moved forward again when he recognized the wolf's form and clothes. It was Scott. Scott drove the lizard thing back and far off Dave could hear another growl. The growl was deep and intense. Dave wasn't even sure what he saw after that. Another wolf man burst into the room and soon after went for Matt. Dave was sure that he'd gone crazy.

He stayed close to his uncle, making sure that the man was breathing. He waited for any sign that things were safe. 

Flames burst outside of the window and Dave ducked close to his uncle on instinct. Soon Scott appeared in the room, looking perfectly normal. Stiles was hanging limp over one of his shoulders. Scott was sweating and panting. Scott looked to Dave and then to the fallen shape of the sheriff. "Can you get him out of here?" he asked Dave.

"Yeah," he said hoarsely, hoisting up the man. He got up and carried his uncle to the entrance of the building. When they got out into the cool air, Dave could see that some of the building was indeed on fire. He sat the sheriff down and that was when cop cars and paramedics started to swarm the scene. 

Dave watched in a blur as the sheriff was loaded onto a stretcher. Stiles, who had been brought out by Scott, was holding onto a nearby car, acting as though he'd been paralyzed or something. 

Stiles held a finger to his lips as his dad came to on the gurney. His meaning was completely clear to his cousin. "What happened?" the sheriff asked groggily, starting to sit up until a paramedic stopped him. 

"He hit you over the head and knocked you out," Dave said, his heart racing. 

"He was ranting to Scott and me and he told us his motives," Stiles said, limping over to them. "It's a long story and we've already told the police. He's run off but he can't get too far." He took a deep breath and looked his father in the eye. "There are a lot of dead officers dad, I'm so sorry."

After that the sheriff was taken away to be checked out and Dave stuck close to Stiles, waiting for an explanation as they too were taken to the hospital and questioned by officer after officer. 

Dave needed answers.


	16. Chapter 16

It took several days for Dave and Stiles to be alone to actually talk about it. Stiles was pretty sure that those days involved sleepless nights for his cousin. They certainly did for him. He didn't know how he was supposed to explain this one to Dave; he figured, however, that his cousin would appreciate the brutal honesty approach. He was going to just give it to him straight. 

"Long story short, Scott was bitten by a werewolf last year," he said. He watched as Dave's eyes registered shock and horror, but also understanding. He was surprised that his cousin believed him, but then again he had seen a werewolf and lizard man death match. It wasn't that hard to believe after that amount of seeing. He watched as Dave took it all in. He could see the wheels turning in his cousin's head. He hated that he had drawn Dave into this madness, but at the same time he finally had someone who was just as normal as he was and who knew. 

"Yeah, Scott was bitten last year while in the woods around here," he explained, hoping more detail would help Dave through this one. "We didn't know what had happened until he started getting super werewolf abilities…" 

"I see," Dave murmured.

"We met Derek, who is a werewolf too. His family was killed by hunters…the alpha werewolf who turned Scott ended up being Derek's uncle…Even worse, we found out that Allison's family were hunters…" Stiles said. He knew that to someone who had no clue what was going on that his story sounded disjointed and honestly downright ridiculous. 

"That's like the worse Romeo and Juliet story ever," Dave mumbled, making him laugh, because it really was. 

"Yeah," Stiles said softly. "The Hale fire was pretty horrific. This crazy hunter, Kate Argent, seduced Derek and used him in order to kill the whole family. Derek and his sister Laura weren't at home at the time and the only person we know of who survived the fire was Derek's uncle. Peter was left comatose after the fire. He somehow came back and was absolutely insane, so that's how Scott got bitten… We spent the longest time trying to get rid of him and finally, we did, or so we thought." 

"Or so you thought?" Dave asked with an alarmed expression.

"Well, he came back from the dead," Stiles said. 

"Of course he did," Dave responded dryly. "Anyway, what's the story about the lizard thing?"

"Jackson Whittemore," Stiles explained. "He really wanted to be turned into a werewolf, so Derek bit him to make him part of the pack. The bite didn't go the way it was supposed to. Because of hang-ups in his past, Jackson turned into this creature, the Kanima. It apparently kills killers and up until you know, right about now, Matt was controlling it's every action. He wanted revenge on the group of douchebags who almost let him drown as a kid. He also attacked Danny earlier because-" 

"Wait, so Danny's best friend tried to kill him?" Dave asked, remembering the attacks on Danny.

"Well, not Jackson, but Matt controlling him," Stiles said. "Danny had visual evidence that the Kanima existed. He never knew that though, so he's safe Dave." He knew how important knowing someone you care about was safe could truly be. 

"So what now?" Dave asked. 

"I…I don't know," Stiles said. 

"Well, you and I are going to stick together," Dave said. "We're family and we'll get through this." 

Shortly after Stiles told him everything, Dave asked to come with him to visit Derek. He still didn't understand what was going on and was pretty sure that he'd never be able to fully process it, but he tried the best that he could. He immediately noticed something decidedly non-supernatural, as Stiles explained to Derek that he was now in the know. The sexual tension between the two of them was so thick that you could practically see it.

"He sort of had to find out," Stiles told Derek. "It's very hard to explain the epic battle of Werewolf vs. Kanima without understanding that things aren't all exactly as they seem in Beacon Hills."

"Great," Derek said in almost a growl as he looked over at Dave. "Someone else to distrust." 

"What does that mean?" Stiles asked. 

"You should ask Scott," Derek shot back darkly.

Stiles followed Derek as he started to move and put a hand on his shoulder. "Derek, I dunno what's going on between you and Scott, but you can trust me," he said. "I promise that you can trust me." 

At that, Derek stormed off. Dave watched him with a slight eyeroll. He reminded Dave of himself, honestly, but in a darker and more growly form. Inspired by the memories of what a jackass he used to be, Dave followed Derek. Werewolf or no, he really needed to get his stuff together. Dave wasn't certain about anything that was happening in Beacon Hills, but he was pretty sure that Stiles and Derek were two people who needed each other.

"Derek, dude, come on," he said. "I don't know much about your or about this werewolf business, but you need to stop blowing him off." 

Derek turned around and gave him a glare that Dave was pretty sure he'd spent years perfecting. "You're the one who gave him ideas about me," he deduced quickly. "I want him to get those ideas out of his mind, because we're dealing with far bigger things, as you now know." 

"Do you know how transparent you are?" Dave asked him. He honestly didn't think that the man was aware of it. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek said. He really was oblivious. He was just as oblivious as Dave had been. Well, Dave had been so deeply in denial that he had made himself oblivious. 

"You like him," Dave said. "It's obvious that I didn't give you any ideas because you're the one who kissed him. I know about the kiss dude, yeah, and I've been there. I have so been there…" 

"I think there are more important things at hand," Derek hissed. 

"You need him," Dave said plainly. "All this stuff going on and even an idiot like me can tell that you need him." 

Just then, the door opened. It wasn't Stiles like Dave expected, but a tall boy with curly hair and wide eyes. He looked at Dave with shock. "I knew I smelled another human in here," he said softly.

"He knows Isaac," Derek said. "What is it?" 

"Gerard Argent has control of the Kanima." 

Dave could see the absolute terror in Derek's eyes. He could feel it radiating off of the two other men in the room. Derek looked to this Isaac and nodded. "See, bigger issues," he told Dave. "Run off and find Stiles, alright? Make sure that he's safe." 

Dave glared at him.

"I'll talk to him, as soon as just knowing me isn't risking his life," Derek conceded and to Dave, that was enough.


	17. Chapter 17

Stiles was surprised when, after conversing with Dave, Derek actually talked to him. The werewolf stalked up to him, stared him in the eye and practically growled out, "I'm attracted to you." 

He raised his eyebrow at that. "Derek?" he asked in shock.

"Blame your stupid cousin," Derek said darkly. "He wanted me to be open and honest with you, so look, this is me being open and honest. I find myself drawn to you and it's really, really starting to get to me." 

Stiles took in the information as best as he could, surprised but pleased. "I like you too," he told Derek in a whisper.

"I don't think there's anything you can do with this piece of information, but since your annoying cousin persisted..." 

"Don't call Dave annoying," Stiles said in immediate defense of his family member. He leaned up close to Derek and looked into his amazing eyes. God, Derek really did have amazing eyes. "You could use that little bit of information and kiss me or something, you know?"

Derek opened his mouth like he was going to object or say something smartass, so Stiles decided that he wasn't going to deal with that. He leaned over and kissed Derek slowly. Derek kissed him back slowly, intently. It seemed angry, almost, like Derek was trying to prove some kind of point but at the same time he'd kissed Derek, Derek had responded and all was good in the world. He loved it.

The joy over his new relationship with Derek Hale was short lived as the big lacrosse game of the season approached. "There's no way that I'm playing," Scott told Stiles, looking up at him with big eyes. 

Before Stiles could respond, Isaac entered the locker room and put himself between the two other boys. "Jackson's back and he's playing in the big game," he said. 

"Scratch that plan then," Scott told Stiles. "I have to be on the field to protect…everyone…" Sometimes Stiles wondered how Scott felt. The boy often seemed to have the weight of both the werewolf and human worlds on his shoulder. He sighed and shook his head, thinking about Scott's woes. 

"I need to go talk to Dave," he said. "I'll catch you later." 

He found his cousin just outside of one of the classrooms. Dave looked up at him from over his books with a concerned expression on his face. "Hey, dude, is everything okay?" he asked softly.

"I guess," Stiles mumbled darkly. "I just want to make sure that you stay low, okay? Something bad is about to happen but we have no idea what it is." Ever since his father told him that Matt was found dead and now they found out that Gerard had the Kanima, they were playing a waiting game. They were playing a waiting game and the result of the end of the game was total disaster.

"I will try my best, dude," Dave said softly. The lost look in his eyes was very similar to how Stiles felt on the inside. His next question, however, was one that surprised Stiles just a little. "Is there anything we can do for this Jackson guy?" 

"What do you mean?" he asked Dave. 

"Well," Dave explained, "Danny really cares about Jackson and I can't imagine the kind of…mental violation that being used as a freakin' tool is, crazy monster or not." He shifted around and looked uncomfortable. Stiles admired Dave. He was a pretty noble guy deep down. "I dunno, I just want to help." 

"I don't really know what we can do for Jackson yet," Stiles said, feeling slightly guilty that he had not thought much about Jackson. Sure, the guy was a grade A jackass at times, but he still didn't deserve to be violated mentally and forced to kill people. "Just make sure that you keep Danny safe. Don't let him go anywhere with Jackson alone and don't let the two of them get too close if you can help it." 

Dave nodded at his words. "Good point," he said. He then gave Stiles a look that was hard to read, yet Stiles understood it perfectly. 

"I know what you're feeling man," Stiles said honestly. "It's pretty awful for the people you care about to be in the dark. I've been enduring that one with my dad for a long time. The best thing that we can do, though, is just keep them as safe as we can. The less they know about this creepy world, the better."

Stiles then leaned forward and he and his cousin hugged. He felt so thankful that Dave had come up to Beacon Hills. He now had someone on his side who genuinely cared about him and now that someone knew about the things that were making him crazy. That was good. That was really good.

Over the next few days, Dave tried his hardest to get into contact with Danny. It was really hard to do so, as Danny was in all advanced classes and very busy as the big lacrosse game approached.

One of the first times that Dave actually got to talk to Danny was the day of the big game, actually moments before it occurred. He walked into the locker room just in time to get an earful of a conversation between Danny and Jackson. 

Jackson seemed to be really struggling with his words. "I want you to stay away from me tonight," Jackson said in a breathy voice. "If I start coming towards the goal, go the other way. Stay as far away from me as possible."

"Dude what the hell..." Danny murmured.

Dave swallowed with the intense feelings. 

When Danny started questioning Jackson, that was when the other boy chose to leave. He stalked off just as Dave arrived, giving Dave a glare. Dave walked up to his boyfriend. "Are you okay?" he asked, leaning over and pecking Danny's lips lightly. It was still weird for him that he could just walk up and kiss Danny whenever he wanted and he was mostly protected. It made no sense to him at all. 

"Hey..." Danny said, his voice showing how distracted and perturbed he was.  
"What's wrong?" Dave asked. He hated that he had to play dumb with Danny, but he didn't really have much of a choice.

"Jackson was just acting really weird," Danny said honestly. "He told me to stay away from him tonight...he said that it wasn't safe to be around him." Danny looked at Dave quizzically. He was wondering exactly what Jackson meant by those strange words. 

"Listen to him and stay safe then," Dave murmured. "I don't know what's wrong with Jackson, but it's weird..." 

"It is..."

Danny had no idea how weird the whole situation truly was.


	18. Chapter 18

Dave watched the big lacrosse game in simultaneous anxiety and amazement. He had a deep rooted anxiety because he knew that something was going to go wrong, but at the same time the game was overwhelmingly amazing. Danny wasn't letting a thing in the goals and someone that Dave now knew was Isaac kept knocking people out on the field, something that was pissing his coach off but at the same time was highly efficient. Lacrosse was brutal.

It was only a little into the game when Stiles was put in. Dave knew that Stiles was mostly a benchwarmer, but he never realized how little his cousin was actually allowed to play when his uncle next to him shot up out of his seat. "They're putting Stiles in!" he yelled at Dave. "They never put Stiles in!" 

"I'm sure he'll do great," Dave said, patting the man's shoulder when he sat down. 

"I hope you're right..."

Dave watched the game with a heightened anxiety. Beacon Hills was doing pretty well, but every time that Jackson got too close to the goal post, his heart soared. Jackson as the Kanima had already tried to kill Danny once. Who was to say that he wouldn't do so again? Every time Dave's fears got out of control, however, Jackson moved right along with the flow of the game, leaving Danny completely unharmed. 

At first, Stiles was doing pretty awful. Dave didn't fault his cousin though, because he seemed to have a natural athleticism, but a clumsiness to go with it and he evidently didn't practice a lot. He was the one at his uncle's side, patting the man's shoulder when Stiles missed something. The tide changed about halfway through the game though, when Stiles looked out into the crowd and started getting better.   
Dave watched in amusement as his uncle's cringing turned quickly into cheers. 

"Oh my god, Dave look at him!" he yelled.

"He's doing well," Dave said softly, grinning. He admired his uncle's relationship with Stiles. He wanted to get that back with his own dad. He promised himself that when he went back to Ohio they'd work on it. They had to work on it. 

"C'mon Stiles! You got it!" 

Dave chuckled under his breath, standing up and cheering when Stiles made a goal for the team. It was pretty amazing watching his underappreciated cousin come out of his shell. It almost made him forget about the threat of death and destruction for a little while. "C'mon man!" he yelled as well. He stood up and clapped. 

"Yeah man!" he yelled. 

Beacon Hills was lead to victory by his cousin and Dave couldn't be more proud. The moment the game ended and they were declared victors, the stands erupted with cheers. It was loud and probably more enthusiastic than most football games at McKinley. Stiles looked like he was on cloud nine. Just as Dave moved to get up and head down the bleachers to congratulate both Stiles and his boyfriend, the entire stadium went black. 

There was a scream. 

Following the scream, the lights went back on to reveal a scene of absolute horror. A body lay flat on the ground. Dave knew from the hours spent watching him, to make sure he didn't get too close to Danny, that it was Jackson. He felt his uncle jerk next to him when the man realized what he was seeing. Dave immediately followed the sheriff down the bleachers and through the crowd of panicked individuals. 

When they got close, Dave could see a bloody wound on Jackson's body. The boy didn't seem to be breathing. He looked to his uncle, who was expertly clearing people away from the vulnerable form in front of him. "I said move it!" he yelled at a couple of individuals. A woman Dave recognized as Scott's mother knelt down by Jackson and felt his pulse. 

She looked up at Dave's uncle and shook her head. "He's gone," she whispered as his uncle reached for his phone and called someone from the police station. "He's dead..." 

The moments until Jackson was loaded away in a body bag were slow, torturous. Dave only snapped out of his stunned, horrified state when a broken cry filled his senses - Danny. Danny positively broke down the moment he took in the scene, dropping to his knees and letting out a heart wrenching sob. "No, no," he repeated over and over again, as if his denial of his best friend's death could make the boy live again. "No, Jackson, not Jackson, please." 

Dave did what he could. He went to his knees beside Danny and put both arms around him, holding him tightly as he thrashed. "I got you Danny," he said. "It's okay, it's okay, just breathe please."

Danny sobbed and cried until Jackson was taken away and then began to deal with his grief by closing in. He stopped making a sound and Dave had to let go of him for a minute to just make sure that he was still breathing. He dropped from his knees to a sitting position on the floor and just sat there, staring off into space while Dave tried to bring him back. "Danny, c'mon, please..." he said, kissing the boy's cheek, touching his arm, doing anything that he thought might bring him back. 

Nothing that Dave tried worked, of course and Danny continued to stare off like a person haunted. "Danny, please..."

The horror of what he'd witnessed was only doubled when the sheriff walked back into the middle of the crowd. "Where's Stiles?" he asked in a loud voice. That made Dave realize that he had not seen his cousin since his victorious moment at the end of the game. That had been right before the lights had gone out and Jackson had...died. "Where's my son?"

Stiles, however, was nowhere to be found. Dave would have helped the group around him search, but he could not let go of Danny. He only let go of Danny when one of the other lacrosse players pointed out his mother. "My baby," she murmured before thanking Dave profusely and pulling Danny up to his feet. It was an impressive feat given the fact that Danny's mother was probably five feet tall and petite. Dave knew Danny was in good hands when he left. 

They searched up and down but they could not find him. Nobody, not even the team members that had been right near Stiles, had seen him or any sign of a struggle. There was no word. It was like his cousin had completely vanished.

Stiles was not found. After an hour and a half of searching, Dave was sent home by his uncle. He did not, however, go home. He went to the only place he knew he could find an answer. He went to Derek's rundown house in the woods, panicking and praying.


	19. Chapter 19

Dave arrived at the shelled out house, totally out of breath. "Stiles is missing and Jackson is dead," he rasped out. It took him a moment to realize that the werewolf was not alone. He stood with another man, one who gave Dave an interesting expression. 

"Peter Hale," the man said, shaking Dave's hand.

"Oh, uh, wait…he's not…"

"Yeah he is," Derek said darkly. "What happened to Stiles?" 

“I don’t know,” Dave said honestly. “The game was going on like normal and then the lights went out. Someone screamed. Actually, a lot of people screamed. When the lights went back on again Jackson was dead. Danny was freaked out and I was trying to comfort Danny so I wasn’t thinking about Stiles and then we realized he was missing…”

“He what?” Derek asked. 

Peter, however, was less concerned with Stiles going missing and more concerned with Jackson. “I don’t believe that Jackson is truly dead,” he said. “I know firsthand how unlikely it is for things of a certain kind to stay dead.”

“What do you mean?” Dave asked. “Danny is so devastated…he’s freaking out…he’s broken…” He thought of his boyfriend and his heart hurt a little. The poor guy loved Jackson so much.

”I don’t know what he means,” Derek said honestly, touching Dave’s shoulder. “Go home, kid. Peter and I have some business to attend to and I promise that I will find Stiles. I will do something about this.” Dave had a feeling that they were just trying their best to get rid of him but at the same time he knew that he had to listen. He had to let the werewolves do what they were going to do. 

Dave immediately went back home. He didn’t know what else he could do. When he walked into the house, he walked right in on Stiles and his father locked in a tight embrace. Wait – Stiles?!? 

“What is going on?” Dave asked, bursting into the room.

His cousin turned, revealing a bruised and battered face. “Dave,” he said softly, looking at Dave with relief in his deep eyes. His voice was frighteningly dull and broken. “I’m sorry if I scared you man. There were some guys from the other team after the game who took advantage of the sudden dark. They – uh, well, beat the crap out of me. It’s my own damned fault. Me and my mouth have to learn when to shut up sometime, right?”

Dave knew instantly that Stiles was lying for his father’s sake, so at that moment he didn’t say anything. He just walked up to his cousin and gave him a hug. “You scared me to death,” he said honestly, looking at the Sheriff from over Stiles’ shoulder. Obviously the older man wasn’t in on all of the supernatural weirdness or anything but he was far from stupid. He knew that something wasn’t right and Dave wouldn’t be surprised when he figured it out in the near future. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

It only took him a moment after getting Stiles alone to ask him what was going on. “What happened?” Dave asked immediately, looking at his cousin with desperate concern. 

Stiles’ expression was absolutely heartbreaking and haunting. He looked broken. He opened his mouth to speak. “Dave…I…” he started, but quickly changed course from what he was originally planning to say. He spoke in a cool, factual tone. “Argent and his cronies grabbed me.” 

“Oh my god…” Dave whispered. “How did you get out?”

Stiles shook his head at that. “I didn’t,” he said. “They just dropped me off by the side of the highway looking like this. I guess they were trying to send Scott a message or something.” 

“I was scared,” Dave said with a sigh. “Your dad was positively raging, but terrified.” 

Stiles looked at Dave with a dejected expression on his face. “I don’t really know what to do right now,” he admitted. He spoke as if he were talking to himself, not his cousin. “I mean, I’m trying my hardest to figure this out, but it’s not working. I don’t know what to do. I feel like no matter what we do, we’re going to lose. Argent still has two of the werewolves, you know? I can’t do shit to go back and save them because then I put Scott, Derek, everyone at risk. I’m a failure.” 

“You’re not,” Dave said. He knew Stiles believed it at the moment but it was the furthest thing from the actual truth. “Trust me, you’re not.” 

It was only maybe another ten minutes before Stiles’ phone rang. Dave could tell by the expression on his face that it was Derek. “I’m fine,” Stiles said in a harsh tone. “You can tell Scott – I know that Scott doesn’t follow your little alpha delusions Derek. What do you want?” He was being purposefully harsh with Derek and Dave knew he had reason to be. “Danny?” he asked, and that perked up Dave’s attention. “Why Danny? I mean I know he’s Jackson’s best friend, but dude…my dad says Jackson is dead…” 

Stiles gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine, you can leave that choice up to his boyfriend,” he said. “Here.” He then handed Dave his cellphone. Dave was confused. What did he or his boyfriend have to do with any of this supernatural mess? They were bystanders for the most part. 

“I need you to bring Danny,” Derek said, before Dave could even speak. “I need you to get him to the location I send Stiles. Jackson honestly doesn’t have much hope, but this Danny kid may be his only slim chance.” 

“Why?” Dave asked. He wasn’t going to let Derek use his boyfriend for anything without knowing what was going on.

“We don’t have time.” 

“We do, or I don’t do a thing,” Dave said. He wasn’t that strong, but he wasn’t going to deal with bullshit, not when there was an emergency that involved just about everyone he cared about. 

Derek gave in pretty fast at that. “I think Danny’s care for Jackson is key,” he answered, amending his words with the insistence of Peter on the other end, “or rather, Peter believes that Danny’s love for Jackson is key.” 

“You mean it could save him?” Dave asked.

“Yeah,” Derek filled in. “Jackson never had a solid sense of self-identity or something like that, but from what we know, Danny’s always loved him pretty unconditionally.”

“Even when he was a total jackass,” Dave muttered, recalling Danny’s words. “Alright Derek, you’re on. I’ll get him.”


	20. Chapter 20

When they got to Danny’s house and snuck him out, Danny was naturally confused. He was, however, too lost in his grief to function. He sat there in the back of the jeep with Dave, who held his hand and tried to comfort him. “What’s going on?” he asked Stiles and Dave both, looking around confused. Stiles had to admit that he admired his cousin for the way that he calmed Danny down. 

“We’re going to fix this,” Dave promised Danny, still holding his hand. “You’re key to fixing this all and making everything right. I promise it’s gonna be better.” 

“Jackson needs you, man,” Stiles said. He knew that he and Dave were debating internally over how much to tell Danny about the situation, but Stiles figured that the metaphorical cat was out of the bag. It had clawed its way out and was unfortunately coming right for Dave’s boyfriend. Stiles had no idea how Danny could save Jackson, but at the same time he knew that Danny was Jackson’s only hope. Maybe he was the one who could save them all.

“Jackson’s dead,” Danny said, looking straight at Stiles and then to Dave, as if Dave could confirm this as true fact to him. Stiles wondered if Danny could feel that it wasn’t over for Jackson or something. He wasn’t a superstitious guy despite all of the supernatural weirdness around him, but that made sense to him. If you loved a person enough you just knew them.

They arrived at an old warehouse. Stiles drove through the open gate at breakneck speeds – and then he hit something. It didn’t take him more than a split second to realize that the person he’d hit was over six foot tall, scaly and most definitely the Kanima. It went lurching forward as Stiles slammed on the break, sending Dave and Danny crashing into each other. He stopped the car, flinging the keys to the side and getting out. Dave and Danny quickly followed suit.

The creature didn’t take being hit with a moving vehicle very well. It rose and slashed at the air. Stiles backed away and saw Danny and Dave staring in horror. Dave had seen the Kanima before but he hadn’t seen it up close. He was pulling Danny back towards him protectively. Danny, however, knew exactly what he was looking at, even though he’d never seen the thing before in his life. “Jackson,” he said immediately. He looked to Dave for confirmation and then got out of his boyfriend’s arms. “Jackson, I know that it’s you.” 

The creature stopped dead in its tracks. It stared at Danny, walking towards him. Danny didn’t flinch away, which amazed Stiles because Jackson or no, nobody was supposed to be brave enough to just stand face to face with a clawed lizard beast. “Jackson, I know that you’re in there. I can see you.” Danny spoke clearly. Stiles turned and looked at Dave who was staring at his boyfriend with fear in his eyes. 

Jackson saw Danny. They all saw the recognition even through the creature. There was a struggle going on behind the monster's eyes. "You can escape this," Danny told Jackson and they all watched hopefully. 

With a flicker, Jackson's body began to morph. It turned back into the form of a naked human boy. All eyes were on Jackson and they were all totally shocked. In the midst of all of the shock, Peter and Derek went in for the kill.

Stiles didn't know why but he heard the claws sink into the flesh. He watched Jackson take the fall. He hit the ground hard. Stiles stood idly for a moment and then followed Dave and Danny to the fallen boy's side. 

Dave watched on his knees as his boyfriend pulled Jackson into his arms. "He's not breathing," Danny whined. "Jackson, please," he sobbed. Dave held Danny close and tried to just breathe. Jackson had to be okay. He had to, after all that they'd been through. He couldn't just die again.


	21. Chapter 21

It seemed like Jackson was truly dead this time when in a blink-long moment Jackson returned. He rose to his feet and in what felt to Stiles like a burst of white light, returned. He opened both eyes. They were an animalistic blue, a blue that Stiles had seen before on a pre-alpha Derek. They stared at him for a little bit too long, honestly. He moved back slightly, in awe of the thing that was happening in front of him. When had his life become so freaking insane that a sudden rebirth wasn’t the most shocking thing about Jackson returning from the dead, again? 

Jackson inhaled harshly and then looked at Danny. Their eyes locked. His eyes reverted back to human and he pulled his best friend into a tight embrace. He hugged him tight, leaning into him like he could never, ever let go. Stiles thought for an amusing second that the new wolf was going to strangle his best friend to death, then stopped himself because while amusing, that thought was kind of valid in this world. 

Jackson held onto Danny like he was some kind of life raft. “I am so sorry for everything,” he whispered. He repeated his apologies to his best friend over and over again, as desperately as he could. “You’re my best friend Danny. I need you Danny.” He was absolutely desperate and it reminded Stiles of how it felt to have a panic attack. He often had to repeat little sayings in his head when he was panicking, to keep the hysteria at bay. This was just the same for Jackson who had truly seen horror. He felt bad for the guy, despite every idiotic thing that he had ever done to Stiles and those around them. He figured that he and Jackson were on the same side now. 

Danny held onto him, tears in his eyes. Stiles didn’t even know how Danny was functioning after being dipped into the supernatural headfirst. “You’re such an asshole dude,” he whispered to Jackson. “Don’t you dare ever leave me again.” It was such a simple reply but one that proved to him that Danny was better at handling all of this then he was. Either that or he was going to have a massive attack once the shock died down and he was left with cold, hard reality. 

Dave, meanwhile, watched the two of them in awe.

He had never imagined Jackson as cute but it was adorable the way he kept mumbling into Danny’s ear, words that Dave could barely make out but understood. “I’m a werewolf, D,” he kept mumbling in that same harsh and desperate tone. He didn’t quite know why becoming a werewolf was part of Jackson Whittemore’s life aspiration, but he got desperation, so he shut up and just watched. 

It was not long before Danny brought Jackson over to Dave and Stiles. “I’m so confused,” he whispered under his breath, looking at Dave like he was ready to faint. He stood tall though, which made Dave fall a little more in love with his boyfriend. He then forced himself to let go of Jackson and held onto Dave. He let go after a moment of clinging, but kept his hand tight against him. Dave clutched it close just to let his boyfriend know that he was there. 

“I know,” Dave said, rubbing the back of his boyfriend’s hand. He was still so confused himself but he didn’t want Danny to freak out. They had to stay strong until the crisis sort of situation was over. 

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, staring into Dave’s eyes. The moment that Dave gave the slightest nod Danny leaned forward and kissed him. It was a soft, delicate kiss that only lasted for a moment but held a secret intensity. Dave knew very well how much power a kiss held, but Danny’s kiss just about knocked him off his feet with all of the feeling it gave him. 

Their lips parted just as Scott announced something that scared everyone. Dave hardly knew the implications, but he could sense that there was a lot wrong with the simple sentence.

“Argent’s gone,” he said. “I don’t know what that means really. He’s just…he was dying and now he’s gone…” The werewolf looked positively pale, bloodied up from fighting and just shaken to the core. 

Derek, however, was less than interested in the missing hunter. The battered werewolf looked at Stiles with a need and longing so tangible that Dave felt he could reach out and touch it. He took a few quick strides across the empty space between them and then he pulled Stiles into a deep and passionate kiss. Dave’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the sight in front of him, but unable to look away. Next to him, both Danny and the newly turned werewolf Jackson were caught with their mouths hanging open. Stiles responded back, instantly melting into it. The entire group of ragtag werewolves, hunters and battered humans just watched it happen.

“About time boys,” Peter commented from across the room. He then turned and walked away like nothing interesting had happened. 

Things got interesting after that. Everyone around them realized that it was far from over, but at the same time they were stuck. They didn’t know what to do at that time or any time after it, but tried to live in the moment. Jackson and Stiles worked together to give Danny a werewolf 101 and fill Dave in on the few things that he missed. Nobody really knew what happened to Allison’s evil grandfather, but Scott even admitted out loud that there was a morbid feeling that something was going to happen after that. 

Then came the threat of the alpha pack.

“They’re strong, capable, and almost feral at times,” Peter explained, looking like he was explaining a boring story rather than something that would risk the ragtag group of teenagers their lives. “They are united, something that you all really need to work on.” 

“What do they want?” Derek asked. 

“Territory, probably; authority, definitely.” Peter shrugged his shoulders. 

“We can handle it,” Derek said, looking at them. They certainly were a messed up group of werewolf and human teenagers but at least they could try. Dave knew for one thing that his whole life had changed and he wasn’t going to take that for granted for the world.


End file.
